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SEMI-CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION 



PROFESSORSHIP 



REV. CHARLES HODGE, D.D., LL.D., 



THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON, N. J. 
APRIL 24, 1872. 



PROCEEDINGS 

CONNECTED WITH THE 

SEMI - CENTENNIAL COMMEMORATION 

OF THE 

PROFESSORSHIP 

OP 

REV. CHARLES HODGE, D.D., LL.D 

9 

EN THE 

THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY AT PRINCETON, 
N. J., APRIL 24, 1872. 




NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH & COMPANY, 

770 BROADWAY, Cor. of 9th Street. 



HgPt 



I. 

PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



THE SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



In May, 1822, Rev. Charles Hodge, who had for 
two years been an assistant instructor in the Theologi- 
cal Seminary at Princeton, was by the General As- 
sembly elected a professor in that institution. He was 
formally inducted into office at the beginning of the 
next term. The fiftieth year of his professorship ac- 
cordingly terminated with the academic year ending 
April 23d, 1872. 

In anticipation of this event, the Board of Direct- 
ors of the Seminary at their annual meeting in 1871, 
invited the alumni and friends of the Seminary to 
assemble in Princeton on the day subsequent to the 
completion of this half century, with a view to its 
glad and grateful commemoration. They also sug- 
gested the creation at that time of " some memorial 
of the long, faithful and useful professorial labours" of 
Dr. Hodge, and proposed further, that an alumni asso- 
ciation should then be formed ; and appointed a com- 
mittee of seven, to devise and carry into effect such 
measures as might be requisite for the end contem- 
plated. 

This committee of the Directors forthwith named 

(5) 



6 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

a committee of seventy alumni residing in various 
parts of the country, whose counsel and co-operation 
were solicited and who were invited to meet in Prince- 
ton, June 28th, 1871, the day of the Commencement 
of the College of New Jersey, in order to deliberate 
upon the best method of accomplishing what had 
been proposed and adopting such measures as might 
seem advisable for the purpose. 

The response from every quarter was cordial in the 
extreme, as will appear from the following extracts 
selected from a multitude of letters of like character 
received at the time. 

Rev. William B. Spragtce, D. D., F his king, N. Y. 

" I can hardly believe that there is any one who 
feels a deeper interest in whatever pertains to the 
Princeton Seminary than I do, for I feel that I owe 
to it everything. In the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. 
Hodge's professorship, I shall be specially interested, 
for not only have I been the witness of his whole 
splendid career, but he was my classmate and is one of 
the very few of our number, who now survive." 

Rev. P. H. Fowler, D.D., Utica, N.Y. 

" Nothing of the kind could gratify me more than 
to take part in raising a memorial to one whom I so. 
much admire and love, and to whom I am so much 
indebted, as Dr. Hodge." 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



7 



Rev. Randolph Campbell, Newbury port, Mass. 

" I heartily fall in with the idea of a semi-centenary 
in commemoration of Dr. Hodge's long years of ser- 
vice to the church, and fully concur in the considera- 
tions which call for it." 

Rev. Wm. H. Hornblower, D.D., Professor in the 
Western Theological Seminary, at Allegheny, Pa. 

" My obligations to Dr. Hodge, and love and vene- 
ration for him, will not allow me to decline acting on 
any committee, that is appointed to honour him." 

Rev. Willis Lord, D.D., President of the U7iiversity 
of Wooster, Ohio. 

" It will give me exceeding great pleasure to act 
with the committee so far as I can find it possible. 
My heart is warmly in the proposed movement to 
honour in some fitting way the great Theologian of 
the Church, who is beloved also as well as admired." 

Rev. R. S. Goodman, Grand Rapids, Michigan. 

" I rejoice to hear of the notice intended to be taken 
of the fiftieth anniversary of the Professorate of our 
venerated and dear Dr. Hodge. If there is a man on 
earth whom I would delight to honour, he is that 
one." 

Rev. F. T. Brown, D.D., St. Paul, Minnesota. 

" I feel complimented in being put on the commit- 
tee and shall gladly work with it in any way I can. I 



8 



SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 



honour and admire Dr. Hodge as I do not any other 
living man ; and co make proof of this you can com 
mand me in this thing in any humble service in which 
I can be of use." 

Rev. TV. C. Matthews, D.D., Louisville, Ky. 

" I unite heartily in the object proposed in the reso- 
lutions of the Board of Directors of the Seminary. 
There is no living man in my knowledge, who de- 
serves more to be honoured by the Church and the 
country than Dr. Charles Hodge. It is highly proper for 
the alumni of the Seminary and the whole church to 
erect a monument worthy of the character and works 
of such a man. His name will be cherished in per- 
petual and grateful memories by all who love the 
truth as it is in Christ our Lord." 

Rev. TV. C. Dana, D.D., Charleston, S. C. 

" It would give me a high pleasure to be present at 
the semi-centenary of Dr. Hodge and to add my hum- 
ble tribute to one so highly honoured; but I can 
hardly cherish the hope of being present, my only va- 
cation being of necessity near the close of our long 
summer. I can only, therefore, offer the warmest sym- 
pathy with the plan in view." 

Rev. Joseph B. Stratton, D.D., Natchez, Miss. 

" It will afford me a very sincere gratification to 
render any service which may lie within my power as 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



9 



a member of the committee of the alumni. With the 
leave of Providence I shall certainly be present on the 
occasion in April next, when it is proposed to com- 
memorate the semi-centenary of Dr. Hodge's profes- 
sorship. I am glad that our southern tribes have not 
been overlooked in this project for a gathering of our 
Presbyterian Israel." 

Rev. Charles Manly, of the Baptist Church, Tuska- 
loosa, Alabama. 

" I can hardly anticipate any occasion, which would 
afford me more true gratification than this, when I 
should not only have opportunity of mingling again 
with friends highly prized and fondly remembered, but 
also of testifying my sincere and profound regard for 
Dr. Hodge, whom I remember with a most affection- 
ate reverence. 

Rev. James Park, Knoxville, Tennessee, 

" I had noticed in the public prints the gratifying 
fact ? that the Board of Directors of the Seminary had 
determined on appropriately commemorating the semi- 
centenary anniversary of Dr. Hodge's professorate. 
The announcement will swell the heart of every living 
Princeton student with gratitude and gladness, and 
will awaken sincere desire in every one to be present 
on so interesting an occasion. We who enjoyed the 
privilege of sitting at his feet, the entire Presbyterian 
Church, all Protestant Christianity and the world owe 



IO SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

a mighty debt of gratitude to Dr. Hodge for his long 
and invaluable service." 

Rev. N. L. Rice, D.D., President of the Westminster 
College, Fulton, Missouri. 

" I do not doubt that the alumni of Princeton will 
heartily approve the plan of the Board of Directors. 
I hope, if spared, to be able to be present on the in- 
teresting occasion and I shall be most happy to act as 
a member of the committee." 

Rev. James H. Brookes, D.D., St. Louis, Missouri. 

"It will give me very great pleasure to serve in 
any way the wishes of those who have so happily de- 
termined to recognize by a suitable memorial the long- 
continued and faithful labours of Dr. Hodge. The 
distinguished ability with which he has discharged his 
duties, added to his unspotted character as a meek 
and consistent follower of Jesus, renders the occasion 
contemplated peculiarly appropriate." 

Bishop Mcllvaine, Cincinnati, Ohio. 

" I have seen with affectionate interest the project 
of showing respect to my dear friend and brother Dr. 
Hodge. I shall feel a deep interest in the whole mat- 
ter, and though I cannot promise, I shall hope and try 
to be with you in April next." 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



Bishop Johns, Malvern, Virgi7iia. 

" I need not assure you of my cordial concurrence 
in the proposed action in connection with the semi- 
centenary of the Rev. Dr. Hodge. My admiration and 
love for him will find great gratification in any suitable 
memorial of his professional services and personal 
worth. I fear it may not be in my power to join in 
the joyful celebration ; but, if my life is spared, no 
ordinary impediment shall deprive me of the pleasure." 

Encouraged by such responses and by the general 
interest manifested, the committee of seventy with 
such others of the alumni of the Seminary as were 
then gathered in Princeton, met in the chapel of the 
College on Commencement day, and with great unan- 
imity and cordiality endorsed the project in the follow- 
ing resolutions : 

*" Resolved, i. That the proposed celebration of the 
semi-centennial of Dr. Hodge meets our hearty concur- 
rence, and we cordially unite with the Directors in 
inviting the friends and former students of the Semi- 
nary to meet for this purpose in Princeton, on Wed- 
nesday, April 24th, 1872 ; and that this invitation be 
very particularly extended to all our brethren in differ- 
ent Christian denominations, and in every section of 
our country, as well as in foreign lands, who have re- 
ceived their education here in whole or in part. And 
we express the earnest hope that the hallowed memo- 



12 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

ries of the past, personal attachments, and local and 
literary associations with this cherished spot, may be 
permitted to overcome the long and wide separation 
of time and place, and ecclesiastical organization, so 
that we may all upon this glad occasion gather around 
the instructor whom we all love and revere, a band of 
brethren, cemented in Christian love, renewing and 
pledging a mutual confidence and affection which 
nothing in the past shall be suffered to dim or to ob- 
literate, and nothing in the future shall be permitted 
to disturb. 

" Resolved, 2. That an Alumni association be then 
formed, consisting of all who have been for any length 
of time connected with the Seminary as theological 
students. 

" Resolved, 3. That, in our judgment, the most fit- 
ting memorial of this half century of faithful and 
distinguished service will be the permanent endow- 
ment of the chair which Dr. Hodge has filled with 
such pre-eminent ability. 

" Resolved, 4. That this endowment be immediately 
undertaken, and, if possible, completed by the 24th 
day of April next." 

The appointed day of the celebration brought to- 
gether a large concourse of the former students and 
friends of the Seminary. The first class upon its roll is 
now starred throughout ; the second shows but a single 
survivor and the third but two. From the next class, 
which entered in 181 5, the year preceding Dr. Hodge's 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



13 



own matriculation as a student, four of its five sur- 
viving members were present ; and every subsequent 
class was represented with possibly three or four ex- 
ceptions. They came from Texas and Colorado and 
California, as well as from places less remote. The 
leading theological and literary institutions of the 
country deputed one or more of their Professors to 
indicate their interest in the occasion. The church in 
which the exercises were held was densely thronged, 
and by an assemblage remarkable for the number of 
venerable heads and thoughtful faces. Every available 
standing place was occupied. The enthusiasm, which 
was great throughout, reached its climax at that point 
in the proceedings when Dr. Hodge himself, almost 
overcome by emotion, advanced to greet his gathered 
pupils and to respond to the address made to him by Dr. 
Boardman. The exercises were admirably conducted 
throughout, and in harmony with the character of the 
day. And nothing occurred to mar the general grati- 
fication, which was heightened by the fact that not- 
withstanding the brevity of the time since the sugges- 
tion had first been made the projected endowment 
was brought to the verge of completion, $45,000 of 
the proposed $50,000 being already raised, and a purse 
of $15,350 having besides been made up as a present 
to Dr. Hodge. One gentleman has also given $50 
towards a fund, whose income shall be expended in 
the purchase of copies of Dr. Hodge's Theology or of 
his Commentary on the Epistle to the Romans to be 
given to needy students of the Seminary. 



14 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

The amount thus far contributed to the endowment 
is from 575 separate donors, mostly former students of 
this Seminary, residing in twenty-five different States 
and Territories of this country, some of them mission- 
aries in China, India, Siam and South America, a few 
in the Dominion of Canada, and one who is now Profes- 
sor of Theology in the Assembly's College in Ireland, 
and who has embraced this opportunity to renew his old 
allegiance. It may safely be said that few funds of 
like amount represent an equal measure of self-denial 
and devotion on the part of those who have contribu- 
ted to them. Ministers, themselves receiving an in- 
adequate support, have aided in this endowment with 
a generous enthusiasm, sending sums that they could 
not well afford to spare, but forward to testify their 
indebtedness to their honoured teacher, and eager to 
have a share in erecting this monument to bear his 
name. A very few extracts from the numerous com- 
munications received will illustrate the spirit of the 
movement. 

A respected brother in Indiana who sent $50 in two 
successive instalments writes : 

" Nearly all of my ministerial life thus far has been 
spent among the poor and among small congregations. 
Consequently my salary has been very limited, seldom 
exceeding four or five hundred dollars and often not 
that. The present year it is not likely to exceed five 
hundred, if indeed it reaches that amount ; -and as I 
have a wife and four children to provide for, we must 
live very plainly in order to live at all. 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 1 5 

" Now I beg you not to think that I am going to 
contribute grudgingly. I shall esteem it a most pre- 
cious privilege, if God spares my life and health, to 
be permitted to contribute to this great and blessed 
work." 

Another, in Iowa, sending on his own subscription 
and that of his co-laborers in the same Synod : 

" We are for the most part rather a poor set when 
it comes to raising money out of our own shallow pock- 
ets or from our impecunious flocks. Many of our 
churches are missionary in the fullest sense, with hard 
work to sustain even with the help afforded the stated 
means of grace. Others are in a somewhat better 
condition, but have just emerged from the wilderness 
of financial barrenness. The claims that press upon 
us and our churches are multitudinous, so that we 
hardly dare to come before our people with even a 
modest proposal for assistance in honouring our be- 
loved and revered Dr. Hodge. And then in addition 
to ordinary obstacles the calamitous Chicago fire adds 
another of hopeless magnitude." 

Another, who enrolled his own name and that of 
his father, some years since deceased, on the list of sub- 
scribers : 

" It appears to me that this memorial affords a plea- 
sant opportunity of discharging a great debt which all 
the students owe to the Theological Seminary at 
Princeton." 

Another who sends his contribution from Allahabad : 



1 6 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

" I fear you will have few subscriptions from our 
missionaries in India. This is not because we do not 
love and reverence our instructor, but because we find 
it very difficult to live here on our salaries, which are 
lower than those of any society in India with which I 
am acquainted, excepting the German. We carry with 
us our Princeton traditions and the bond of attach- 
ment is not weakened by the distance that separates 
us from you. Dr. Hodge may be pleased to know 
that the North India Tract Society has recently pub- 
lished a commentary on Romans in the Hindustani 
language, which is based on his, and the Madras Tract 
Society is asking for a translation of the same into 
Tamil." 

A member of the Arcot Mission of the Reformed 
Church in India, in forwarding his contribution of 
$50 in gold, adds : 

" I wish I were in circumstances to send a much 
larger sum. It is, however, a missionary's contribution 
and must needs be small. Such as it is, I send it with 
great pleasure, feeling it an honour to participate even 
in an humble way in so noble an undertaking. 

" How much we all owe to Dr. Hodge ! His in- 
structions have given direction to my whole life and 
extend into all the efforts I have made for the spiritual 
good of others. The great doctrines of the cross, as 
he expounded them to us, have been my one theme 
among heathens and Christians, and have fortified my 
own soul against all the modern and subtle attacks of 



PRELIMINARY STATEMENT. 



*7 



scepticism. I bless God that I was his pupil ; and 
that He now permits me to present my humble testi- 
mony to his eminent worth and to my grateful 
affection." 



The following programme exhibits the 
ORDER OF THE DAY. 

The Officers and Alumni of the Seminary, invited guests, and other 
friends assembled at the Seminary Chapel at 10.30 a. m., where a pro- 
cession was formed under the direction of 

Prof. H. C. Cameron, Marshal, 
and moved at 10.45 t0 tne First Presbyterian Church. 



ORDER OF PROCESSION. 

Undergraduates of the Seminary as Escort. 
Rev. Dr. Hodge and the Orator of the Day. 
Directors of the Seminary. 
Board of Trustees. 
Faculty. 

Officers of other Theological and Literary Institutions, and 
Invited Guests. 

Alumni of Princeton and other Theological Seminaries, in the order 

of Seniority. 
Citizens and Strangers. 
Students of the College of New Jersey. 



11 A. M. 

EXERCISES IN THE CHURCH. 
Music. 

" Gloria in Excelsis," from Mozart's 1 2th Mass. 
Reading of the gzd Psalm, and 

Prayer 

by Rev. W. D. Snodgrass, D.D., President of the Board of Directors. 
2 



J 8 SEMI-CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION. 

Singing by the Congregation. 
137th Psalm, 2d Part. 

Oration 

By Rev. Joseph T. Duryea, D.D. 

Congratulatory Address 
By Rev. Henry A. Boardman, D.D. 

Brief Response 
By Dr. Hodge. 

Benediction, 

pronounced by Rev. George W. Musgrave, D. D., LL. D. 



The Alumni of the Seminary remained to organize an Association, 
after which they proceeded at 1.30 p. m. to a bountiful collation pro- 
vided by three generous friends of the Seminary hi the College Gym- 
nasium, which was kindly loaned for the purpose. 



3.30 P. M. 

Under the auspices of the Alumni Association, a second meeting was 
held in the Church to receive communications from abroad, and to 
give opportunity for general congratulatory addresses from Alumni and 
others. 

Between the hours of 7 and 9 p. m., the residence of Dr. Hodge was 
crowded with his friends and former pupils, who flocked thither to grasp 
his hand and pay him their respects ; and the front of the old Seminary 
building was brilliantly illuminated. 

H 



II. 

ADDRESSES. 



/ 



i 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYfeA. 

Fathers and Brethren: — Three events unite to give 
significance and dignity to this memorial gathering : the 
completion of fifty years of patient toil and faithful teach- 
ing in the sphere of divine science; the presentation to 
the world of the results of study, experience and prayer 
in a work of Theology which gives expression to the 
profoundest religious thought, and stands as proof that 
our English tongue has not lost its purity, power or 
beauty ; the endowment of a chair in the theological 
school which shall preserve the memory of an honored 
and cherished name, and shall continue the usefulness of 
a prolonged and fruitful life. These events direct our 
thoughts and our hearts toward a person. We cannot, 
however earnestly we should make the endeavor, divest 
this occasion of a peculiarly personal character. The 
person before us is a man, but a man of God, a revered 
father in Israel, a beloved teacher among his pupils. 
There is upon his heart, beside the weight of a too great 
joy, the burden still heavier to bear, that he must be so 
conspicuous here. To us there is the embarrassment that 
if we shall dare to say that which we think and feel, we 
may trangress those limits of propriety which are guard- 
ed by the instincts of gentlemanly culture and refinement, 
and have been fixed by that humility before God which 

(21) 



22 



ADDRESSES. 



is ever the work of divine grace. But for our relief we 
have need only this to remember, that all these years of 
contemplation and communion with God must have been 
of little worth, if they have not served to yield that child- 
like lowliness which is never more meek than when re- 
ceiving the award of justice, and is never more severely 
hurt than when subject to untruthful flattery. Our 
venerable father is too near the judgment of the great 
day to care much for human judgment, too near the 
golden crown set with many gems to care much for any 
wreath we can lay upon his temples. 

The events to which I have alluded might start reflec- 
tions of an entirely personal kind, and fix my mind and 
heart on him alone. And had I my unbiassed choice I 
would not be uttering these poor words to him and to 
you. I could crave no higher privilege than to stand in 
some obscure place in the outer circle of this brother- 
hood clustering about their teacher, and to fling above 
their heads the humble token of my loving gratitude. But 
since I am to speak, let me testify that he never will, 
he never can know here, if in the future life he ever 
shall, how much the master is immortal in his disciples. 
Enough be it for me to assure him that from day to 
day I can trace backward through the past to his presence, 
to his almost visible form, to the plaintive tones of his 
teaching and his prayers, the present benefit of intellec- 
tual quickening, the pulse of spiritual fervor, and the habit 
of moral principle. And often since I have been minister- 
ing among men have I felt myself to be not the immedi- 
ate channel of divine grace to them, but rather the vessel 
that bare the grace of my teacher. 

To others, however, have been assigned those addresses 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



23 



which will be more personal, more familiar, and more free. 
The lofty forms, and stately movements of premeditated 
speech seem too nearly insincere, they are too surely cold, 
for the expression of what we think, especially of what we 
feel. I have thought wise to note these three events, 
and cast their significance along a single line of thought. 
You will bear with me, since the time afforded me and my 
circumstances have not suffered me to exercise that labor 
of the pen, the tool that squares and polishes rough- hewn 
thought, which might have commended me to your 
judgment and your taste. I cast nryself upon your hearts, 
since I dare not present myself to the discrimination of 
your understanding. Had pride prevailed to make me 
mindful of your criticism I should readily have found 
refuge in silence. 

The subject to which I shall call your attention is this : 
The title of Theology to rank as a Science. 

We have met to celebrate the completion of fifty years 
of labor expended in teaching theology as a science. We 
welcome the gift of goodly volumes exhibiting theology 
in a system as a science. We are perpetuating a chair 
which shall continue to instruct and drill the mind of our 
rising ministry in theology as a science. These events 
are not so significant, this occasion is not so august, if we 
have placed high estimate upon that which is not worthy 
of such esteem. Theology has been in these days crowd- 
ed to the very verge of the circle of sciences. Among 
those who claim for themselves the true principles, the 
modes, and the style of scientific investigation some 
have endeavored to expel theology entirely from the sis- 
terhood of sciences. We have the antithesis, Religion 
and Science. Science is knowledge, religion is faith ; or 



24 



ADDRESSES. 



rather that form of intellectual state germane to faith 
which is more correctly designated credulity. In nothing 
are we compelled so much to see evinced the power of 
evil upon the human understanding, as well as upon the 
human heart, as in the persistent, hateful antagonism of 
science to religion. Science continually complains that 
religion is uncharitable towards its investigators, and un- 
candid toward its investigations. If this indeed be true, 
it is because science has ever thrust religion on the de- 
fensive, and seems to have determined that if possible it 
shall have no ground until it strikes the w r all, that there it 
shall be pinned until it gives up the ghost.* As soon as 
facts have been discovered which seemed to have a pos- 
sible bearing against the truth of Scripture, there have 
ever been those who were eager and loud in proclaiming 
them. ' As soon as the facts have attained number suffi- 
cient to afford some warrant for inferences, theories have 
been thrust forth as doctrines and set against the dicta of 
revelation. The church has wisely felt, and faithfully re- 
sisted encroachment. She has not been the aggressor. 
She has only stood in line at the front to defend. At 
present, in many quarters, there seems to be the calm as- 
sumption that religion is to be left to women and to men 

* Upon reading the report of this address, which was spoken extempore 
and under necessity of rapid movement on account of the shortness of the 
time allotted to it, the speaker desires to guard himself against misapprehen- 
sion. He does not perceive any real antagonism between true science and 
true religion, between a true scientific spirit and a true religious faith. He 
would have better expressed his sentiments if he could have used where 
the word " science " occurs in the passage above, and similar passages, the 
awkward phrase " science falsely so-called." A sweeping charge of anta- 
gonism to religion on the part of the men of true science would need no 
refutation at Princeton, and would have awaited no severer rebuke than the 
presence of Alexander, Guyot and McCosh, who have in themselves and 
their works so completely blended the scientific and the religious spirit. 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



25 



of pietistic temperament, and for the rest science is the 
food of intellect, the stimulus of heart, the end of life. 

Also within the church are those, writing in its periodi- 
cals, speaking from its pulpits, who decry theology as a 
means of culture and instruction for the ministry, as a 
source of material for the proclamation of the gospel. We 
will not forget our Lord has taught us charity, and yet we 
must in faithfulness affirm we cannot avoid conviction 
that some at least of these betray insincerity. They have 
fixed their views on certain aspects of the divine charac- 
ter, they do not wish to perceive others. They have at- 
tended to certain declarations of the divine mind, they do 
not wish to know others. They have accepted certain 
determinations of the divine will, they are resolved to 
ignore others. Systematic divinity compels them to state 
precisely to the human understanding that which they do 
conceive of God, to bring it out of the shadowiness of the 
notion into the definiteness of the idea, to exhibit in com- 
pleteness their views of the nature, character, will, pur- 
pose, plan, relations, and ultimate issues of the works of 
God. They are not willing to state definitely what they 
think ; they are not willing to admit what they fear they 
might be compelled to admit, should they consent to a 
complete exhibition of truth in the proportions of the 
faith. 

There are others in the church who pretend to a sort 
of mysticism. The meaning of the term as they use it, 
and the phase of experience as they describe it, are diffi- 
cult to comprehend. They place worship at the centre 
of the spiritual life, and tell us that in order to worship 
there must be a certain vagueness about the objects of 
thought and affection. If the objects come too nigh, if 



26 



ADDRESSES. 



they stand forth too clearly and definitely embodied, 
reverence will cease. There must be the halo of mystery 
about the shrine of religion. There must be the blur of 
uncertain sight before the soul ere worship can be pro- 
found in the affections, intense in the expression. The in- 
cense of devotion must encloud the Shekinah before 
which it ascends. The altar must in some sense be true 
to the inscription — " To the unknown God." They who 
so teach are not mindful that, if by too close searching 
we may gaze profanely upon God, we may also by lack 
of clear vision deify myths and worship them. 

There is then outside the Church a tendency to deny 
that theology can claim the title of a science. There is 
within the Church a tendency to maintain that theology is 
not merely of little value, but of pernicious influence. 
They make bold to declare that the ministry are pre- 
vented from exercising the highest power in the pulpit by 
the predeterminations of theological opinion, and by the 
order and style of thought induced by theological culture 
in our seminaries ; that neither by the character of their 
discipline, nor the material of their store, are they prepared 
to become practical teachers of the Gospel to the people ; 
that the people, if trained after the methods of theological 
thought, will be rather determined to rationalism and in- 
differentism, than to faith and worship. 

It is my belief that the theological school is to begin at 
this time a new career, it must adapt itself to a new emer- 
gency ; that we shall need an enlarged course of theo- 
logical study, a more comprehensive and thorough theo- 
logical training than we have received in days that are 
past. We hail therefore with joy the honor done to a 
faithful teacher of theology, the favorable acceptance of 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



27 



his works in this and other lands, and the endowment in 
this seminary of a department which shall secure a sound 
theological culture in the age to come. 

We maintain that theology is a science, that it is an 
exact science, that it is a science essential not only to the 
furnishing of the ministry, but also to the highest life of 
the soul. What then do we understand by science ? It is 
not simply knowledge as consisting in the apprehension of 
isolated facts. It is rather the rational exhibition of facts. 
We have here a product of two factors, the reason and 
the facts. The facts are given, and the reason is to ela- 
borate. As the result there is not merely a development 
of phenomena. There is a genesis of that which is born 
through the conjunction of reason with fact. Reason, 
and by this I now mean the whole understanding, is con- 
ditioned by residence in the body its organ. The body 
comes in contact with phenomena by the special senses. 
The understanding directed by the will performs the 
office of attention. The passive reception of impressions 
upon the senses becomes observation. Observation under 
pressure of the will and the laws of the understanding 
becomes rational. We have the whole process before us. 
The mind by its native energy moves toward the universe. 
Between it and the universe are the senses, the inlets of 
knowledge. As many senses as there are, as many modi- 
fications of the several senses as there may be, so many 
phenomena are there in the universe relatively for man. 
By observation through the natural force of the senses, 
man perceives phenomena, remembers them as facts. By 
artificial means he transcends the limits of his natural 
powers and again observes phenomena and records them 
as facts. The first process is observation of that which 



28 



ADDRESSES. 



impinges upon the organism, makes an impression on the 
sensibility, and through it on the mind. Then the reason 
proper begins its work. It perceives more than is seen, 
and heard, touched and tasted. The mind itself is a power 
capable of suggesting truth. It is not a reflector which 
simply throws back light, it is a lamp which radiates light. 
The light of the mind meets the light of the universe in 
the focus of truth. 

Philosophers have studied the nature of the light which 
the mind casts into the universe. They have informed us 
concerning primitive cognitions which come into con- 
sciousness the moment we observe phenomena. They 
have stated for us primitive beliefs which are determined 
as soon as we consider phenomena and whatever is in- 
tuitively perceived within them. They have collated 
primitive judgments which are formed as soon as we per- 
ceive things to be related the one to the other. By this 
labor the philosophers have expounded the nature and 
methods of science. As the mind turns toward the uni- 
verse to observe, its primitive ideas furnish categories, 
and suggest inquiries. Every primitive belief suggests a 
category and a question. Every primitive judgment sug- 
gests a question or many questions. The categories stand 
open for the reception of facts, the inquiries elicit them. 
Science is complete when all possible effects have been 
wrought on the senses, and all the phenomena have been 
recorded ; when all the questions stimulated by the primi- 
tive ideas, beliefs, and judgments have been considered 
* and answered. The limits of science for man then are 

determined by the power of the senses, and the categories 
of the understanding. When the senses have ceased to 
feel the universe, when the mind has found its questions 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



2 9 



all answered, or has become assured that such as are un- 
answered are unanswerable, the sphere of science is 
bounded and is complete. 

Let it be observed that there is a principle at work 
throughout all the action of the understanding, not con- 
fined to those states or exercises which we are pleased to 
call primitive beliefs, viz. : Faith. The moment observa- 
tion begins faith is exercised, faith in the trustworthiness 
of the senses so far as they may reach, and in so far as 
they operate. The moment primitive ideas and beliefs 
and judgments start in the mind faith asserts their truth. 
This faith is original to the individual mind. It cannot 
be derived by consulting and comparing consciousness in 
many minds. It has already arisen and maintained itself 
before it is known that there are other minds. The in- 
dividual thinks his primitive ideas not as demonstrable, as 
conditioned on testimony, but as self-evident. They are 
not merely true for him, he cannot conceive them to be 
untrue for others. He does not go forth from himself to 
question them, but to question from them. Faith is 
therefore native to the soul, pre-requisite to every move- 
ment of it. We need only to turn to the history of the 
ideal philosophy to learn that our only refuge from abso- 
lute ignorance, or at least from uncertainty, which is 
much the same, is in faith. Upon whatever grounds we 
place the verity of our remoter knowledge, we are ever 
remanded for the verity of truth to the reliability of the 
individual consciousness. What then shall substantiate 
the deliverances of consciousness. Is the logical consti- 
tution of the understanding the counterpart of the exter- 
nal frame of the universe ? Are they correlative ? The 
answer is not to be found in that theoretical system of cor- 



3<D ADDRESSES. 

respondences, in which phenomena are subjective, and 
the goings on of the external world are separate from the 
mind, and the ground of truth, the simultaneous coinci- 
dence of experience within, and effects without, the soul. 
It is given in that system which presents God as the 
author of the understanding, and the constructor of the 
universe, and informing the understanding with the very 
principles of the universe in order to a certain knowledge 
of it. And to this system we are bound by the results of 
all experiment. Our inferences from original suggestions 
prove on trial to be facts. Our guessings at truth by 
analogy when confirmed show that there is that which is 
analogical in the structure of the universe. 

Such then is the relation of faith to all knowledge. The 
scientific man must rest back as surely as we upon the 
principle of faith for the verity of his knowledge. He 
cannot discern without faith, he cannot think without 
faith. 

Nor is this the only office of faith in science. The faith 
of testimony is equally essential to it. The individual 
scientist has quietly made the assumption, and others 
have as calmly admitted it, that he is dealing with matters 
of immediate observation. It must be denied. It is not 
true that he himself, by his several senses, has observed 
all the phenomena that enter into the matter of his science. 
The geologist has not searched the secret of the entire 
earth. The astronomer has not scanned the contemporary 
heavens throughout all their spaces. He has not been 
as old as the ages to peer into the constellations from the 
beginning even of historic time. The physical geograph- 
er has not travelled, staff in hand, a pilgrim over all con- 
tinents. And yet each has made claim to peculiarly posi- 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



31 



tive science on the ground that the senses have touched, 
measured, weighed everything. Has he forgotten that 
he sees through the eyes of others, that he hears with 
, their ears, touches with their hands, tastes with their 
tongues, and smells with their nostrils ? Has he forgot- 
ten that before the results of their tactual observation can 
be his, he must have them by faith, and by faith in man 
natural, without a claim, much less a demonstration, of the 
supernatural either in the matter or the guaranty of his 
testimony ? Not only so, but the contemporaneous living 
observer does not alone testify to him. He too must 
gather up dusty and worm-eaten parchments and collect 
his data, before he can calculate the periods of the eclipses 
and the comets. He must have not only the vocal word 
vouched by the authority of the testifier, but he must 
have a document, actually in written language, which 
must have historical proof of authenticity and genuine- 
ness, which must be interpreted according to the laws of 
language, before he can get the terms of his problem, 
and work it out to its solution. He too must have faith 
in parchments, in scriptures which make no claim to the 
tracings of that celestial ink which has been tinctured by 
the Spirit of God. 

Again, it is not true that the man of science has more 
facts, relatively to his scheme, than the theologian. The 
universe is to be searched for scientific truth, the theolo- 
gian has the truth complete in record. To be sure some 
of it, by declaration of authority, is known to be in seed 
and germ to be developed. But he knows where the sum 
of truth is to be found. He is only to expand it by thought, 
experience, and life. 

Nor*is it true that the man of science can go further to- 



32 



ADDRESSES. 



ward exhaustive knowledge than the theologian. Which- 
ever way he follows the thread of observation it will lead 
him to mystery, often to seeming contradictions. He can 
proceed so far as to experience the failure of his senses, 
to find the inquiries of the mind- without response. He 
has touched all that is tangible, he has received an answer 
to all that will submit to interrogation, and yet there is 
mystery beyond. Let him select that which is nearest 
him, the body in which he dwells. Let him analyze the 
flesh until he reaches the insoluble matter which is the 
residuum of chemistry. What is it? He does not know. 
Let him search the living organism with the microscope. 
What is life ? He cannot tell. Mr. Darwin tells us he is 
going to know. Mr. Huxley confesses that the chemist 
has not produced a living cell, but tells us that he is just 
about to construct it. The physiologist cannot tell us the 
stimuli which cause the reaction of respiration, the sources 
and methods of the reproduction of vital heat. If you 
will take up the more candid exhibitions of the latest re- 
searches in physiology, you will find that they who have 
been studying the body with most skill, and care and 
patience have enlarged beyond your imagining the 
boundaries of their ignorance, and have furnished us 
with a most satisfactory solution of the problem given 
in the past uncertainties of medical treatment. 

Now let us turn to the consideration of our own science 
of theology. Here is the same human mind, with the 
same native energy tending to observation and interro- 
gation. Within the mind the same constitution govern- 
ing its action by the same laws, conditioning its knowl- 
edge, and verifying its results. Can the scientific man 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



33 



deny to it a science in the sphere of the moral and spirit- 
ual ? He says science is the necessity of the mind, scien- 
tific thought is the normal intellectual action, scientific 
truth the pabulum on which the understanding flourishes. 
Can he deny us the same native tendencies, the same de- 
sire for intellectual action, the same hungering and thirst- 
ing after truth in scientific forms? Surely the scientific 
man should not object on the score of the wholesome 
activity of the hi/man mind to a science of divine things. 

But does he object on the other hand that in the sphere 
of theology the mind does not come in contact with 
phenomena? Does he affirm that nothing is unfolded to 
its observation which may start in the consciousness its 
ideas, beliefs, and judgments, and that these do not spon- 
taneously suggest questions that will vex and torment the 
soul until they are at least proximately answered, or with 
humble faith referred to God in patient expectation that 
what we know not now, we shall know hereafter? If so, 
then we maintain that the matters of theological science 
are properly phenomena, in contact with the human 
senses in the past or present, and directly open to human 
observation. Not only so, but all phenomena may be 
distributed in the categories of theology. We open the 
Bible and read, " In the beginning God created the hea- 
vens " — then Astronomy is ours ; — " and the earth," — then 
Geology is ours. We learn that in successive periods 
God prepared the surface of the earth for the residence 
of man — and Physical Geography is ours. We read 
again, " God formed man of the dust of the ground, and 
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life " — and Physiol- 
ogy is ours : — " and man became a living soul " — and 
Psychology is ours. Theology appears at last the science 
3 



34 



ADDRESSES. 



of sciences. And again, " God made man in his own 
image." And now we have affirmed for us the verity of 
the human understanding, the identity of moral percep- 
tions, beliefs and judgments in the human and the divine. 
All that is human is related to the divine, all that is truly 
human is similar to the divine. The earth is become a 
thing of clay, and stars are floating dust before the God- 
like majesty of the human soul. And we stand in pre- 
sence of the grandest problem of the highest science, and 
strive to show how the universe is related to the soul, 
and how both are related to God. 

When we enter our proper sphere and attempt a science 
of truth as it is in God and man and the universe, and in 
all their relations to each other, we have no other instru- 
ments to seek, no other methods to employ than those of 
true science. We observe, we record, we arrange facts. 
God has shown himself to the senses. God has appeared, 
he has become a phenomenon. Men have seen him, touch- 
ed him, heard him. They were eye-witnesses. They were 
witnesses precisely as scientific observers are witnesses. 
They have preserved their testimony. The record is ours. 
It is subject to the same laws of criticism that determine the 
credibility of all documents, and to no others. God has 
shown himself not only by appearances, but also by sym- 
bols. In the body and soul of man he had so interfused 
the material and spiritual and blended them in conscious- 
ness that the material could suggest the spiritual in 
thought, and excite the spiritual in feeling. He therefore 
manifested himself in material forms suggestive of his 
spiritual nature and excellencies. The symbols of divine 
things were seen and handled for generations. They were 
most accurately described. The description is on record. 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



35 



The record is in our hands. And finally God has spoken. 
He has uttered words in the ears of men. His language 
has been recorded. The scriptures are in our hands. 
We possess not merely the accounts of man's observation 
of God manifested before him, but God's own disclosure 
of himself. In his own words he expresses his attributes ; 
in didactic terms he exhibits his thoughts, and purposes, 
and plans ; in categories he sets forth the declarations of 
his will ; in systematic presentations he makes known the 
economy of his relations to men, as their creator, ruler, 
redeemer, judge. 

These phenomena are to be treated as all phenomena ; 
these symbols as all symbols ; this language as all lan- 
guage. If others were witnesses of them, their testimony 
is to be treated as all testimony. If the astronomer tells us 
what he has seen in the sky, Moses tells us what he saw 
in the bush. If the geologist tells us what he has seen 
deep down in the hidden strata of the earth, Moses tells 
us what he saw on Sinai. If the physical geographer tells 
us what he has seen on many continents, Peter, James, 
and John tell us what they saw on Tabor. The facts are 
phenomena. It is emphasized in the testimony that these 
things were seen, and touched, and handled. They were 
brought to the very body, before they were commended 
to the faith of the soul, of man. We are therefore on the 
same ground with science as to the use of human senses 
in the observation of facts, and of the human imagination 
in comprehending and conceiving facts preserved in the 
language of testimony. Men have observed, observing 
they have testified, testifying they have recorded, record- 
ing they have used language according to its normal 
sense and forms; and employing imagination no more 



36 



ADDRESSES. 



largely than science even in its claim to positiveness of 
knowledge is compelled to employ it, we can revive 
phenomena, re-enact symbols, interpret words, and out of 
all conceive and know the- things that have been most 
clearly manifested to us of God. 

If the phenomena are ours by testimony on record, we 
admit it is our duty to examine the authenticity and 
authority of the record ; the ability and trustworthiness 
of the witnesses. And we claim that we may trust the 
worthiness of the witnesses to the facts of our gospel, as 
the man of science may trust the competency and fidelity 
of the witnesses to such facts as he receives. We will 
make a higher claim. We will affirm that they could not 
have been what they were, they could not have wrought 
and suffered what they did and bore, they could not have 
lived immortal in the growing understanding and enlarg- 
ing heart of the race, but that there were the supernatural 
and the divine in their being, their observing, and their 
recording. We stand then upon the everlasting rock of a 
divine verity in the records of our Scriptures. Science 
may swing its pick here until it is worn to atoms. Science 
might be better busied in driving it still further into un- 
known rocks. 

But have we need to define the facts given in Scrip- 
ture. We bid adieu to the partisans of science for a mo- 
ment, and turn our attention to those in the Church who 
tell us to read the Scripture, to take facts as they appear 
on the page, to leave them concrete as they are exhibited, 
clothed in the language selected by the writers. And 
suffer us to remind them that the people have not the 
words of the Spirit, but are at least one remove from them ; 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



37 



that all translation is a re-casting of originally expressed 
truth, that the original tongue itself needs to be con- 
tinually revived by a careful study of antiquity and a 
deeper sympathy with its genius, and this makes impera- 
tive demand for fresh expression in other tongues. The 
sufficiency of statement is relative. Thought may take 
on forms more suited to the mind of an individual, the 
common mind of an age, than those in which it was first 
expressed. Those forms which may make revealed fact 
more clear to apprehension are surely serviceable to the 
understanding and are therefore to be constructed. And 
they are needful to experience and life. If truth is to act 
upon the heart it must be before the understanding de- 
finitely, " concrete " indeed, but not in written or spoken 
forms, but in living ideas. Language at best is but a hint 
of that for which, it stands. The Word of God which 
liveth and abideth forever, is begotten and lives within 
our souls. It is only by that labor of the mind which 
gives complete conception to crude notions that we shall 
ever fairly cognize the objects that are revealed. If 
these objects are to work on the affections in order to 
the response of worship, upon the motive powers of the 
soul in order to the response of obedience, and through 
worship and obedience to transform it into holiness of 
character, to develop it into pureness and fullness of life, 
then they must stand full-orbed, and clean disced before 
the understanding. It is only he who is averse to the ob- 
jects who shuns the light of clearness, and blurs the out- 
line of definiteness. It is only he who is not worshipful 
but sentimental who covers with the clouds of his incense 
the object of his devotions. 

Take for example that last synthesis* of theology, the 



33 



ADDRESSES. 



Person of Christ — can it ever be too definite? Have we 
not in analogy a hint of our duty? Our Lord showed 
himself on the Mount of Transfiguration before Peter, 
James, and John, clothed in his most excellent glory. 
Moses and Elias for a season were talking with him. At 
length they disappeared. The voice from heaven came, 
saying, " This is my beloved son, hear him." So when 
we have worked our way through law and prophecy, 
gospel and epistle, and come at last to stand before the 
brightness of the Father's glory, the express image of his 
person, and see him clearly, and see him entire, then will 
the overflowing fulness of knowledge be ours, and with 
it the fulness of faith, and the fulness of hope. 

But again, and finally, having defined the facts that are 
revealed to us in the Scriptures, may we collate them ? 
Are the processes of science germane to Christian theo- 
logy? May we begin under the categories furnished by 
our primitive ideas, beliefs, and judgments, to gather 
together things similar, to separate things dissimilar ; to 
work upward from the individual to the family, from the 
family to the species, from the species to the genus, from 
effects to causes, and downward from causes to effects ? 
Precisely as in science. So far as the facts are concerned 
in the processes they in no wise differ from the facts of 
science. They have substantial existence, and whatever 
exists may the subject of rational processes. Whatever 
exists in similarity is a subject of classification. What- 
ever exists in relations is a subject of classification. What- 
ever exists in the relation of effect to cause, or cause to 
effect, is a subject of classification. If we find any fact in 
whatever sphere .having such character, existing in such 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



39 



relations, it is of the very nature, and it becomes in con- 
sciousness the imperative demand, of our mind, that we 
shall classify. Not only is it the demand of the mind of 
the scholar but as well of the peasant. For mind will 
think, and this is thought. The merely passive recep- 
tion of promiscuous facts will not be sufficient for any un- 
derstanding quickened by the Spirit, and intent upon the 
truth. The very workman at the bench, while he reads 
his bible, or recalls its teachings, although he knows it not, 
is theologizing. He gathers together what he has receiv- 
ed here and there concerning God, and is working out his 
conception of a divine character. He searches into God's 
works and ways, and cannot cease from seeking the 
" how " and the " why." It is not mere curiousness but 
painful necessity that makes him agonize with the ques- 
tions, How can God be just and justify the ungodly ? 
How can God be benevolent and permit evil ? We want 
no more proof that there is rational necessity for a science of 
divine things than the million tokens all about that men will 
have it imperfect at least if not complete, and will labor 
onward until the utmost is achieved toward completeness. 

But are the facts of sufficient number to fill our cate- 
gories and complete our classifications ? If not we will 
leave our categories unfilled, our classifications incom- 
plete. Are these facts sufficient only for approximate 
generalizations ? Then we will make our generalization 
approximate. Are inferences from such generalizations 
only probable ? Then we will be content to hold them as 
probable, except as we may find didactic confirmation for 
them in the Word of God. And if we shall maintain for 
opinions such inferences as seem to be warranted by the 
facts of revelation, we will not be so dogmatic concerning 



4o 



ADDRESSES. 



them as to do violence to the sincerity, candor and liberty 
of thinking people. We will endeavor to keep our theo- 
logy where the scientific man ought to have kept his 
science, in the attitude of expectation toward facts. We 
will try not to proclaim as a dictum of our science any 
such crude generalization as this, " Nature abhors a 
vacuum." We will try not to name any faculty of the soul 
as the physiologist once named the courses of the blood, 
when calling them arteries ; through any such inapt con- 
ceit as his, when he supposed them pervaded by the 
atmosphere. 

Turning now to ourselves and our proper sphere, we 
maintain that we have a revelation, that its record is pre- 
sented in terms intelligible, that it is sufficient at least for 
our present need. We are not willing to depart from the 
principles we have affirmed so far as confidently to pro- 
phesy, but we are warranted hopefully to hold as our 
opinion, that before the search into divine things shall be 
concluded, it will be found, that revelation stands in rela- 
tion to the human understanding and the spiritual life as 
complete, as the revelation of nature stands to the facul- 
ties and uses of man in the lower plane of the physical 
sciences and the animal life. The soul will have as large 
an expanse in the spiritual, as in the material universe. 

And now let us ask the practical questions, Are we to 
seek for more devotion to the prosecution of theological 
science ? Will it aid us in the work of instruction from 
the Christian pulpit? Will it help us in our advance to 
higher spirituality in the Christian life ? 

It is said that theology prevents a candid interpretation 
of the Scriptures. It cannot be true if we guard ourselves, 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. DURYEA. 



41 



as I have tried to guard myself, by determining that we 
will ever go from the Scriptures up to our theology, and 
back from our theology to the Scriptures. We will still 
leave our categories open and hold our generalizations 
subject to the modifying force of the facts of the word. 
Under the light of proximate science our observation will 
be so much better directed and our labor so much more 
fruitful, that we shall sooner gather the facts that will re- 
pair the meagreness of our categories and the insuffi- 
ciency of our generalizations. 

But will not the resulting forms of thought tend to the 
enfeeblement of emotion ? Will not theoretical knowl- 
edge make the mind unpractical in its dealing with truth ? 
Are not theologians heavy in the pulpit ? Is not theology 
dry food for the people ? 

We need only to reply, the best theologians have been 
the best preachers, and the best preachers have been the 
most practical of men. The man who can write a System 
of Theology can write the Exposition of the Epistle to the 
Romans ; and the man who can write the Exposition of 
the Epistle to the Romans, can write " the Way of Life." 
If theology gives satisfaction to the questioning mind by 
full responses from the total of truth, then theology can- 
not unfit the mind for the office of teaching. If clear and 
full conceptions of objects are necessary to intensity of 
feeling, and feeling is necessary to motive, and motive is 
necessary to character, and motive and character are ne- 
cessary to action, and the sum of action is the sum of life, 
then let us have the science that gives definitiveness and 
completeness to divine things, that we may come to full- 
ness of spiritual experience, and intenseness of spiritual 
life. 



42 



ADDRESSES. 



Holding firmly these views I am deeply convinced, and 
returning to this place from the people, I desire solemnly 
to express the conviction, that the future of our country 
and the world will demand a new race of preachers. 
Often have I felt that I could cheerfully sit upon these 
benches again, call these men masters once more, 
and retrace my way to the pulpit. We must have 
better men, Fathers and Brethren, even if we have 
fewer. If the hundreds become scores, and the scores 
become tens, out of the ten we will place on the walls 
of Zion the man, 

" One blast upon whose bugle horn 
Were worth ten thousand men !" 

The people can do all the poor preaching that needs to 
be done. The pulpit must aspire after and attain to the 
very best. We need men who shall understand the con- 
stitution of the human soul, who shall master the philoso- 
phy of the mind, who shall train symmetrically every 
power, and gain the harmonious management of all their 
faculties ; who shall know how to address themselves to 
the Word of God under the methods of a true theology, 
who shall understand language so as to read the 
mind of the Spirit in the forms of the Spirit, who 
shall read themselves into the divine language so as 
to think with the Spirit rather than interpret him ; 
who shall hold the constitution of man in such com- 
plete and lucid survey as to be able to present truth in 
methods germane to the understanding, in colors winning 
to the affections, to apply motives directly to the lever 
points in the soul to move and lift it. Men who then shall 
stand with truth complete in memory as it is revealed, 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. H. A. BOARDMAN. 43 



vivid in the imagination as it can be conceived, their 
faculties sharper than any two-edged sword, as promptly 
obedient as the lightning to God's behests, ready at any 
moment to leap from chair or couch, and stand before the 
people, and articulate a complete embodiment of divine 
things which shall shine radiant and burn fervently before 
the human understanding and upon the human heart, 
nerved with confidence that comes with close familiarity 
with God, and thrilled with power from the Spirit resi- 
dent within them. Then will the Lord add to the church 
daily, such as shall be saved. 

Dr. Snodgrass then introduced the Rev. Dr. Henry 
A. Boardman, of Philadelphia, who, in the name of 
the Directors and Trustees of the Seminary, and of 
the Alumni, addressed Dr. Hodge, and spoke sub- 
stantially as follows : 

My Honored Father, Brother, Friend : — I am com- 
missioned by the Directors of our Seminary to present to 
you their cordial' congratulations, and to assure you of 
the profound sense they entertain of the invaluable ser- 
vices you have rendered to the cause and kingdom of 
Christ. We this day bear our public testimony to the 
eminent ability, the ample and various learning, the prac- 
tical wisdom, the thorough conscientiousness, the un- 
swerving fidelity, and the humble, devout, earnest spirit 
which you have brought to the discharge of your high 
trust. We offer our thanksgivings to the Author of all 
good, that you have been spared to us so long, and in 
reviewing this half century of your labors, we reverently 
glorify God in you. 



44 



ADDRESSES. 



The occasion takes our thoughts back irresistibly to 
the origin of this School of the Prophets. At this hour, 
hallowed by so many tender and sacred memories, there 
rise before us the venerable forms of those two patriar- 
chal men, Drs. Alexander and Miller, in whose arms the 
institution was cradled. We gratefully acknowledge the 
Divine goodness and mercy in sparing them for forty 
years to impress themselves upon its character, to define 
its theology, to determine its direction, and to infuse into it 
the animating tone and spirit by which it was to be con- 
trolled in after times. It was the universal feeling of our 
Church, that a mercy so signal was too great to be re- 
peated. Yet what hath God wrought! The mantle of 
our Elijahs has certainly fallen upon our Elisha. Their 
associate first, and then, in the true line of the apostolical 
succession,, their successor, he has taken up and carried 
forward their work, and we to-day commemorate a minis- 
tration, not of forty, but of fifty years, marked with every 
attribute which can command our homage, or win our 
gratitude. But I forget my errand. Assigned to a ser- 
vice to which I feel myself most unequal, and from which 
I sought in vain to escape, I am instructed to speak to 
you on behalf, not only of the Directors of our Seminary, 
but of the Alumni also. I have no words for this. Here, 
in the scene before us, is the only adequate expression 
that can be given to the feelings of your former pupils. 
From far and near, the aged and the young, moved by a 
common impulse, have hastened to this festal service. 
Commingled with them are the learned Faculties of other 
seminaries and colleges, distinguished laymen, and honor- 
ed legates of European Churches. No eye can look upon 
this sea of upturned faces without being impressed with 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. H. A. BOARDMAN. 45 

the spectacle. As interpreted by its object, and by the 
free, generous inspiration which pervades the entire body, 
it bears an aspect of moral beauty — nay, of moral sub- 
limity — beyond almost any convocation our Church, or 
even our country has witnessed. Who has ever seen a 
gathering like this ? Ovations to heroes, and statesmen, 
and authors are no novelty, but here is the spontaneous 
homage paid to a simple teacher of God's Word, and dS- 
fender of his truth, by a vast assemblage, worthily repre- 
senting the highest culture, and the most exalted moral 
worth of our land. No man of our times has received a 
tribute comprising, in an equal degree, the choice ele- 
ments that are blended here. And, my beloved friend 
and brother, there is but one name among the living that 
could have drawn this concourse together. Nor is this 
all. What we see, imposing as it is, is as nothing to what 
we do not see. 

Of the twenty-seven hundred men who have sat at 
your feet, there are few in the field who are not here in 
spirit to-day. The wires are up, and there is a sweet 
tide of thought and sympathy flowing to us at this hour 
from our toiling brethren in Europe, in Africa, in Eastern 
Asia, in South America, and in the Isles of the Sea. It 
is not less for them I speak than for the hundreds of your 
students who are present, when I say we rejoice with 
you in this Jubilee ; from our heart of hearts we thank 
you for the priceless benefits we have received at your 
hands ; and we praise God for all that affluence of bless- 
ings which he has bestowed upon you, and through you 
upon his Church. Do not imagine, however, that we 
have come together merely to recognize in you the great 
expositor and defender of the faith once delivered to the 



4 6 



ADDRESSES. 



saints. I appeal to you, Fathers and Brethren, that it is 
not this sentiment only, nor mainly, which throbs in our 
breasts to-day. Beheld from a distance, even friendly 
eyes see on this ancient hill simply a giant oak, with its 
grand old branches swaying to the winds of heaven. 
But to us, branches and trunk alike are so covered with 
vines, and flowers, and clustering fruits, that we scarcely 
wot of the massive props that are underneath. And so, 
whatever of honest admiration we may feel for our gifted 
master, it is not that which brings us here, but the affec- 
tion rather which we cherish for him as an unselfish and 
sympathizing friend. If the homely phrase may be al- 
lowed, while we honor him for the great head which God 
has given him, we love him for his still greater heart. 

Allusion has been made to the type of theology taught 
in this Seminary. It has two leading characteristics. In 
the first place, the principle upon which it rests, and 
which underlies every part and parcel of the lofty super- 
structure, is the absolute, universal, and exclusive supre- 
macy of the Word of God as the rule of faith and prac- 
tice, A censorious critic said the other day, derisively, 
in reviewing the volumes of Theology lately published : 
" It is enough for Dr. Hodge to believe a thing to be true 
that he finds it in the Bible ! " We accept the token. 
Dr. Hodge has never got beyond the Bible. It contains 
every jot and tittle of his theology. And woe be to this 
Seminary whenever any man shall be called to fill one of 
its chairs, who gets his theology from any other source. 
The second characteristic of this sj^stem is that it is a 
Christology. Christ is its central sun ; its pervading 
element ; the stem from which every thing in dogma, in 
precept, in religious experience, radiates, and towards 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. H. A. BOARDMAN. 47 

which every thing returns. Not as a mere anatomy does 
Christ dwell here — the crown of a speculative organism, 
symmetrical and complete, but without flesh and blood 
and vitality. Rather is He the living soul that animates, 
and guides, and hallows the whole. If a theology must 
needs take somewhat of its essential tone from the temper 
of its expounder, who can marvel that the theology of this 
institution should be instinct with a gentle, loving, hum- 
ble, Christ-like spirit ? 

To be permitted to set forth and inculcate a system 
like this, even in the ordinary routine of personal labor, is 
no trivial privilege. But what honor, beloved Brother, has 
God put upon you ! For fifty years you have been training 
men to preach the glorious gospel of the grace of God to 
their fellow-sinners. The teacher of teachers, your pupils 
have become Professors in numerous Colleges and Semi- 
naries at home and abroad. Not to speak of one or two 
thousand pastors, who are exerting an ameliorating in- 
fluence upon this nation more potent than that of an equal 
number of men belonging to any other calling, you are 
helping, through your students, to educate a great body 
of Christian ministers, not a few of whom are to be em- 
ployed in laying the foundations of Christianity in pagan 
lands. And now there is superadded that which all your 
friends regard as the crowning mercy of your life, viz. : 
that health and strength have been given you to complete 
and publish the only comprehensive work on Systematic 
Theology in our own or any other language, which com- 
prises the latest results of sound scriptural exegesis, dis- 
cusses the great themes of the Augustinian system from 
an evangelical standpoint, and deals satisfactorily with 
the sceptical speculations of modern philosophy and 



4 8 



ADDRESSES. 



science. In thus supplying what was confessedly, in the 
way of authorship, the most urgent want of Protestant 
Christendom, you have extended indefinitely the range 
of your beneficent power. 

Your Theology must soon become the Hand-Book of 
all students of the Reformed faith who speak the English 
tongue. Where you have taught scores, you will now 
teach hundreds; and where you have taught hundreds, 
you will teach thousands. Thus, through your pupils, 
dispersed over the four quarters of the globe, and through 
this great work, comprising your mature views in the 
noblest of all sciences, is your influence extending in ever- 
multiplying, ever-widening, concentric circles, until the 
mind is awed in attempting to conceive, not of its possi- 
ble, but of its certain results, as the ages come and go. 
That you should live to see this mighty mechanism in 
motion — to guide into so many of its countless channels 
this broad stream from the Fountain of living waters, is 
a distinction so rare and so exalted that we cannot but 
look upon you as a man greatly beloved of God, and 
honored as He has honored scarcely any other individual 
of our age. When He has thus spoken, we have no right 
to be silent. We render the praise to Him whose provi- 
dence and grace have made you what you are, and given 
you to us and to His Church. Again do we offer our 
thanksgivings for all that He has done and is doing for 
our Seminary, for the Church, and for the world through 
your instrumentality. Again with one heart and voice 
do we, the Directors, Trustees, and Alumni of the Semi- 
nary, the Faculties and graduates of sister institutions, 
the representatives of the other liberal professions, and 
your friends of every name and calling here assembled, 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. HODGE. 



49 



congratulate you on this auspicious anniversary, and pay 
you the tribute of our grateful love. " The Lord bless 
you, and keep you. The Lord make His face to shine 
upon you, and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up 
His countenance upon you, and give you peace ! " 

As Dr. Hodge rose to reply, the audience spon- 
taneously rose, and a large portion remained standing 
until he had finished his response, which was as fol- 
lows : 

Gentlemen of the Board of Directors and of the 
Board of Trustees, Friends from abroad who have 
honored this occasion by your presence, and dear 
Brethren of the Alumni, I greet you. 

A man is to be commiserated who is called upon to 
attempt the impossible. The certainty of failure does not 
free him from the necessity of the effort. It is impossible 
that I should make you understand the feelings which 
swell my heart almost to bursting. Language is an im- 
perfect vehicle of thought ; as an expression of emotion it 
is utterly inadequate. We say, " I thank you," to a ser- 
vant who hands us a glass of water ; and we thank God 
for our salvation. The same word must answer these 
widely different purposes ; yet there is no other. When 
I say I thank you for all your respect, confidence, and 
love, I say nothing, I am powerless. I can only bow 
down before you with tearful gratitude, and call on God 
to bless you, and to reward you a hundredfold for all your 
goodness. 

Allow me to say one word. I have been fifty years 
connected with this Seminary as professor. During all 
4 



5o 



ADDRESSES. 



those years novstudent has ever hurt my feelings by any 
unkind word or act. You are disposed to cover — to 
overwhelm me with your commendations. It is you who 
should be'commended and blessed. 

But I am not here to speak of myself. Let me speak 
of the Seminary. Brethren, I too am an Alumnus, I share 
your feelings. We love our Alma Mater, not because she 
is fairer, richer, or better than other mothers, but because 
she is our Mother. 

Dr. Boardman has anticipated in part what I wished to 
say. Princeton Seminary is what it is, and what, I trust 
it will ever continue to be, because Archibald Alexander 
and Samuel Miller were what they were. 

The law of the fixedness and transmissibility of types 
pervades all the works of God. The wheat we now 
grow, grew on the banks of the Nile before the pyramids 
were built. Every nation of the earth is now what it is, 
because of the character of its ancestors. Every State of 
our Union owes its present character to that of its original 
settlers. This holds good even of counties. Before the 
middle of the last century a whole church with its pastor 
emigrated from Massachusetts to Liberty County, Geor- 
gia ; and that county is the Eden of Georgia to this 
day. It is a proverb that the child is father of the man. 
The same law controls the life of institutions. What they 
are during their forming period, they continue to be. 
This is the reason why this Institution owes its character 
to Dr. Alexander and Dr. Miller. Their controlling in- 
fluence is not to be referred so much to their learning, or 
to their superior abilities, as to their character and 
principles. 

Jt was of course not peculiar to them that they were 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. HODGE. 



51 



sincere, spiritual, Christian men. This may be said of 
the founders of all our Theological Seminaries. But 
there are different types of religion even among true be- 
lievers. The religion of St. Bernard and of John Wesley ; 
of Jeremy Taylor and of Jonathan Edwards, although 
essentially the same, had in each case its peculiar charac- 
ter. Every great historical Church has its own type of 
piety. As there are three persons in the Trinity, the 
Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, so there appear to 
be three general forms of religion among evangelical 
Christians. There are some whose religious experience 
is determined mainly by what is taught in the Scriptures 
concerning the Holy Spirit. They dwell upon his inward 
work on the heart, on his indwelling, his illumination, 
on his life-giving power; they yield themselves passively 
to His influence to exalt them into fellowship with God. 
Such men are disposed more or less to mysticism. 

There are others whose religious life is determined 
more by their relation to the Father, to God as God ; 
w r ho look upon Him as a sovereign, or law-giver ; who 
dwell upon the grounds of obligation, upon responsibility 
and ability, and upon the subjective change by which the 
sinner passes from a state of rebellion to that of obe- 
dience. 

Then there are those in whom the form of religion, as Dr. 
Boardman has said, is distinctively Christological. I see 
around me Alumni whose heads are as grey as my own. 
They will unite with me in testifying that this is the form 
of religion in which we were trained. While our teachers 
did not dissuade us from looking within and searching for 
evidences of the Spirit's work in the heart, they con- 
stantly directed us to look only unto Jesus— Jehovah 



52 



ADDRESSES. 



Jesus — Him in whom are united all that is infinite and 
awful indicated by the name Jehovah ; and all that is 
human, and tender, and sympathetic, forbearing and lov- 
ing, implied in the name Jesus. If any student went to 
Dr. Alexander, in a state of despondence, the venerable 
man was sure to tell him, " Look not so much within. 
Look to Christ. Dwell on his person, on his work, on his 
promises, and devote yourself to his service, and you will 
soon find peace. " 

When I was about leaving Berlin on my return to 
America, the friends whom God had given me in that 
city were kind enough to send me an Album, in which 
they had severally written their names, and a few lines as 
remarks. What Neander wrote was in Greek, and in- 
cluded these words: Ovdev kv eavrib nothing in ourself 
kv Kvpio) Txdvra all things in the Lord ; fj,6vcp dovXeveiv d6%a 
Kal nav%r\\La whom alone to serve is a glory and a joy. These 
words our old professors would have inscribed in letters 
of gold over the portals of this Seminary, there to re- 
main in undiminished brightness as long as the name of 
Princeton lingers in the memory of man. 

Again, Drs. Alexander and Miller were not speculative 
men. They were not given to new methods or new 
theories. They were content with the faith once delivered 
to the saints. I am not afraid to say that a new idea 
never originated in this Seminary. Their theological 
method was very simple. The Bible is the word of God. 
That is to be assumed or proved. If granted ; then it 
follows, that what the Bible says, God says. That ends 
the matter. 

There recently resided in this village a venerable lady, 
as distinguished for her strength of character as for her 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. HODGE. 



53 



piety. A sceptical friend once said to her, " My dear 
madam, it is impossible that a woman of your sense can 
believe that story in the Bible, about the whale swallow- 
ing Jonah." She replied with emphasis, " Judge, if the 
Bible said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would be- 
lieve it." That may have been said by others ; I know 
it was said by her. I am not authorized to affirm that 
Dr. Alexander would say the same thing. But he would 
come pretty near it. And he is no true Princetonian who 
will not come as near to it as he can. 

But admitting that the Bible is the word of God, there 
are different principles of interpretation which may be 
applied to it. Instead of understanding it in its plain 
historical sense, there are those who say that the letter 
killeth, the .spirit maketh alive ; that the literal sense 
amounts to nothing ; that it is the hidden mystical sense 
which alone is of value. Others adopt what may be 
called the philosophical method. They admit that there 
are doctrines in the Bible, which are the objects of faith 
in the common people ; but these are only the forms 
under which lie abstract truths, which it is the business 
of the philosopher to elicit. He throws the doctrinal for- 
mulas of Christianity into his retort and transmutes them 
into gas ; thus losing the substance with the form. Thus 
the doctrine of Providence, or the control of all events by 
an extramundane, personal God, who governs by his 
voluntary agency the operations of second causes, work- 
ing with them or without them, so that it rains at one 
time and not at another, according to his good pleasure ; 
all this is evaporated into cosmical arrangements, leaving 
us no other God to pray to than the forces of nature. 
The same principle is applied 'to the doctrines of redemp- 



54 ADDRESSES. 

tion. We were taught by our venerable fathers to take 
the Bible in the sense in which it was plainly intended to 
be understood. 

The principles above stated are those on which those 
who founded this Institution acted. These are the prin- 
ciples which have determined its character, and give it 
its hold on the hearts of its Alumni. 

Brethren, I said T am an Alumnus. I know the feel- 

I 

ings with which you revisit your Alma Mater. Those 
feelings are very complex, including those with which 
children return to the home of their childhood, and those 
with which a man, with uncovered head and unsandaled 
feet, enters the cemetery of his fathers. Here are the 
tombs of Dickinson and Burr, of Edwards, of Davies and' 
of their illustrious successors in the presidency of our 
sister-institution. Here lie the ashes of Archibald Alex- 
ander and of Samuel Miller. The memory of these men 
constitutes the aureola wnich surrounds the brows of 
Princeton, a glory which excites no envy, and yet attracts 
all eyes. 

After the benediction had been pronounced by Rev. 
Dr. Musgrave, of Philadelphia, the meeting of the 
Alumni for which the original plan and invitation had 
made provision, was called to order. The following 
constitution based on that of an old organization of 
the Alumni was adopted : 

T. The name of this Association shall be The Alumni 
Association of Princeton Theological Seminary. 



II. All who have been Students in the Seminary shall 



CONSTITUTION. 



55 



be regarded, if they please, as members of this Associa- 
tion. 

III. The object of the Association shall be the pro- 
motion of brotherly love among its members, and the 
advancement of the interests of the Seminary. 

IV. The Professors, Directors, and Trustees of the 
Seminary shall be regarded as ex-officio members of this 
Association. 

V. The officers of the Association shall be a President, 
a Vice-President, a Secretary, and a Treasurer, who shall 
be elected annually, and continue in office until others 
are chosen to succeed them. 

VI. The officers, with three other members to be 
annually chosen, shall be an Executive Committee with 
power to attend to the business of the Association, in the 
intervals of its meetings. 

VII. The Stated Meetings of the Association shall be 
held annually in Princeton on the same day with the 
regular Annual Meeting of the Directors at the close of 
the Seminary year, at such hour as may be appointed 
from year to year. 

VIII. Special Meetings of the Association shall be 
called by the President on the written request of five 
members, notice thereof being given in two religious 
papers at least two weeks previous to its occurrence. 



56 ADDRESSES. 

The following officers were chosen for the ensuing 
year : 

President — Rev. John C. Backus, D.D. 
Vice-President — Rev. Charles K. Imbrie, D.D. 
Secretary — Rev. Wm. E. Schenck, D.D. 
Treasurer — Rev. William Harris. 

Executive Committee — The President, Secretary and 
Treasurer, with Rev. W. Henry Green, D.D., Rev. W. 
C. Cattell, D.D., and Rev. S. D. Alexander, D.D. 

Professor Green reported the result of the endeavor 
to secure an endowment for the " Charles Hodge Pro- 
fessorship." The afternoon meeting was conducted 
under the auspices of the newly organized Association, 
and at its close the Association adjourned to meet next 
year in connection with the Anniversary Exercises of 

i873. 

At 3:30 p. m., the appointed hour, Rev. John C. 
Backus, D.D., of Baltimore, the President of the 
Alumni Association took the chair, # and announced 
the object of the afternoon's gathering as follows : 

Alumni and Friends of Princeton Seminary, — We 
are met here after the interesting exercises of the morn- 
ing, and the hour spent around the festal board, to ex- 
press what is in our hearts with reference to this long and 
honorable service of our father, brother, teacher and friend. 
Let me then say to you that we have here representatives 
from various classes during the whole history of the Semi- 
nary, and also from other Institutions and denominations, 
and some from other lands, who have come here to sympa- 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. JOHN C. BACKUS. 57 



thize and unite with us in paying this tribute. The time of 
service we have come to commemorate is indeed a long one, 
but the hours are very few and short. I am directed by the 
Committee who have had charge of the arrangements, to 
say to all, that the hearts of all are full and many lips will 
desire to express their congratulations ; and to ask our 
speakers to remember that after each one a number will 
come ; and though we do not limit their time, unless you 
choose to adopt the hour rule, [laughter,] we only remind 
you of this state of things. The Chairman of the Com- 
mittee will read the order under which we are to proceed. 

In accordance with the proposed plan the President 
first announced the presence of Rev. J. L. Porter, 
D.D., LL.D., of Belfast, Ireland, as a special represen- 
tative of the Assembly's College in that city. Dr. 
Porter, who received a very hearty greeting, spoke as 
follows, in fulfilment of his commission : 

Mr. Chairman and Christian Friends, — I have 
been commissioned by the Faculty of Assembly's College, 
Belfast, to read to you, and present to the Board of Mana- 
gers, this letter. [The letter was then read.*] 

Sir, I esteem it one of the very highest honors that 
could be conferred upon me to have an opportunity, in 
person, of presenting this letter to you, and to your dis- 
tinguished colleague, Dr. Hodge. It may, perhaps, tend 
to give some faint idea of the deep interest entertained 
upon this subject by my College, and, indeed, by the 

* For this and the other congratulatory addresses, and extracts from the 
correspondence which has accumulated in the hands of the Committee of 
Arrangements, see Part III. 



58 



ADDRESSES. 



whole .Church to which I belong, when I state that the 
Faculty, with the concurrence of the Theological Com- 
mittee of the Assembly, requested me — I may even say, 
enjoined me — to leave Ireland before the close of the col- 
legiate session, in order that I might be present with you 
this day. [Applause.] I stand here, probably, the only 
representative from the old world. I know not whether 
I am or not, but I believe I am the only representative 
from the old world of the feeling entertained by theolo- 
gians on the other side of the Atlantic towards Dr % 
Hodge and the distinguished Faculty of Princeton. I 
believe, sir, that I shall not go beyond the boundaries of 
my commission ; I am sure, sir, that I shall not exceed 
what would be the desire of all those who live beyond the 
sea, if I here, at this time, venture to communicate to you 
and to Dr. Hodge the high feelings of regard > esteem, and 
honor entertained toward him by the whole body, of 
evangelical Protestantism in Great Britain and in Europe. 

Sir, we are separated by the broad Atlantic ; but after 
the eloquent address which I heard this day, and after 
reading the works which Dr. Hodge has given to the 
world, I need not say that we are one. Truth knows no geo- 
graphical boundaries ; the unity of the faith can never be 
affected by the accidents of time, or space, or circumstan- 
ces. Luther, Calvin, Knox — and, I shall add, Jonathan Ed- 
wards — though separated by nationality — though the re- 
presentatives, perhaps, to some extent of different coun- 
tries, and though divided by time as well as by space, yet 
were one in the noblest and in the best sense. And now, 
sir, the countries of Luther, of Calvin, of Knox, this day 
desire to join with the intellect and learning of the great 
nation to which Edwards belonged in conveying to Dr. 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. J. L. PORTER. 59 

Hodge a tribute of their united esteem, and in recogniz- 
ing in him a true son of the great fathers of the Reforma- 
tion. 

Sir, the name of Dr. Hodge has been known in Great 
Britain for more than a third of a century. I remember 
well, when a student in the University of Edinburgh, and 
when I had the honor of sitting at the feet of the illustri- 
ous Chalmers, even then, old story as it is, among those 
authors to whom Dr. Chalmers directed the special atten- 
tion of the students under his care, was that distinguished 
man whom I have had the pleasure of meeting for the first 
time this day — Dr. Hodge. [Applause.] Sir, the founda- 
tions of his European fame were laid by his work upon 
the Epistle to the Romans. As year after year passed, 
polished stones, hewn by him from the rock of truth, were 
added to the structure ; then the pillars, stately and stead- 
fast, were made of those noble Princeton Essays ; and 
now, at last, the hands of the venerable theologian are 
placing the top-stone of Systematic Divinity upon that 
structure, and thus consecrating the whole to the service 
of our common God. 

Perhaps, sir, if I am not trespassing too much upon your 
time, I may be permitted to say that there are special cir- 
cumstances connected with our condition on the east of 
the Atlantic which render the services of Dr. Hodge par- 
ticularly valuable at the present time. We, sir, in Britain, 
and indeed in Europe, have at the present moment two 
great, two gigantic systems of error to contend against. 
We have Popery on the one hand, we have Infidelity on 
the other ; and in the battle which we have to wage with 
each of those, Dr. Hodge has rendered to us, as he has 
rendered to you, the most signal service. Sir, we can look 



6o 



ADDRESSES. 



back over the pages of history and we can see how Mar- 
tin Luther grasped the talisman of Divine truth and smote 
that colossal fabric of error which had so long enslaved 
Europe ; and now we see after the lapse of centuries that 
same talisman taken up by the hand of a master among 
yourselves, who has not only wielded it for the defence of 
truth and the overthrow of error, but has fitted it for the 
hand of thousands throughout the world, and has, in his 
" Systematic Theology," put into our hands that same 
instrument by which, we trust, under the Divine guidance 
and by the Divine blessing, even yet to smite to the earth 
the colossal fabric of Popish tyranny in poor, oppressed 
Ireland ! And then we have to contend with infidelity — 
infidelity with its insidious teaching — infidelity with its 
false and fatal philosophy — infidelity that would strip 
the Bible of all that is noble and true — infidelity that 
would extract from it the Divine life-principle and leave 
it a cold, dead, withered skeleton ; and Dr. Hodge has 
taught us, as no man taught us before, with clearness, 
with precision, with logical power, how we are to meet 
this false system, and how we are to show to Darwin, and 
Colenso, and others of that school, that we have a philoso- 
phy better than theirs, that we have principles nobler 
than theirs, and that we are able to meet them on their 
own ground, and show that the truths of theology are in 
accordance with the very highest achievements of human 
genius and human learning. Need I say more in respect 
to services Dr. Hodge has rendered to us and to the world. 
Surely we are justified, surely we are bound, surely we 
are constrained to convey to you from Britain, from Ire- 
land, from Europe, the tribute of our thanks to Dr. 
Hodge, and of our congratulation upon all the honor he 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. JAMES M c COSH. 6 1 



has done to this College, upon all the services he has ren- 
dered to your noble country, and to the whole theologi- 
cal world. May I be permitted to say, in conclusion, 1 
rejoice to see the old man still strong ; I was rejoiced to 
hear the old man still eloquent, and to feel that those 
tones which have entered the hearts, as I know, of so 
many of his students, are plaintive and persuasive as they 
were of old. I trust that the influence he has exercised, 
and the services he has rendered, will be continued to a 
distant day, and that he may be long spared, an ornament 
of this Seminary, and honor to your country, and a bless- 
ing to the world. * 

Rev. James McCosh, D.D., LL.D., President of the 
College of New Jersey, was next introduced, to pre- 
sent others of the congratulatory addresses which had 
been received from abroad. He spoke as follows : 

I appear for three sisters who regret very much that 
they cannot be here this day to speak for themselves. 
They are daughters of that old Church of Scotland who 
is the mother of us all. 

The oldest was born in stormy times, was baptized in 
the blood of martyrs and cradled in the rocks of her 
country, and she has ever since retained the impress she 
received in her younger days, and you may see it in her 
gravity, her high toned principle and spirit of self-sacri- 

* Dr. Porter had intended to include in his tribute the announcement that 
" Dr. Hodge's ' Systematic Theology,' has, with the full concurrence^ of the 
Faculty, been adopted as the text-book in the Assembly's College, Belfast, 
the best proof we can give of the high value we attach to that noble con- 
tribution to Theological literature." 



62 



ADDRESSES. 



fice. She is the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
land, and she is the descendant and the heir of the Cove- 
nanting Church whose sons were hunted like wild beasts 
on the mountains. She has set a noble example to her 
younger sisters. She has not only employed an Old 
Mortality, to renew the defaced tomb-stones of her mar- 
tyred heroes, but she has held forth to all lands and to 
succeeding generations the truths involved in her battle- 
cry, " Christ's Crown and Covenant." The literary men 
who write history have never known what Great Britain 
and America owe to that old Covenanting Church which 
for twenty-eight years, when the Puritans were contented 
with a passive resistance, bade open defiance to the tyran- 
ny of Charles II., and James II., and withstood the whole 
Cavalier strength of England, and with the blue flag wav- 
ing over them defended the ark of God in their moun- 
tain fastnesses till a better time came. Their blood dyed 
red the heather hills of their country, but they were never 
conquered and their principles yet live and permeate 
Scotland and have gone into other lands ; for to them and 
their movement we owe the Scotch and the Scotch-Irish 
population and the Presbyterian church in this land ; and 
these it might be shown have acted an important part in 
promoting a spirit of lofty independence and a love of 
liberty in America. Now the able theological professors 
of that Church declare that Dr. Hodge is the ablest liv- 
ing defender of those great Bible truths which have pro- 
duced and fostered what is greatest and noblest in Scot- 
land ; and they have instructed me, the unworthy descen- 
dant of men who fought at Drumclog and Bothwell Brig 
to say so to Dr. Hodge and the American people. 

The second daughter who bids me speak for her had 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. JAMES McCOSH. 63 



also to face tyranny civil and ecclesiastical in her young- 
er years. It is the United Presbyterian Church of Scot- 
land the church of the Erskines and of Gillespie. When 
the rights of the Christian people and the old faith of 
Scotland were being trampled on by a worldly government 
fostering a worldly set of ministers, she had the courage 
to secede from the church established by law, and to or- 
ganize a Christian community which kept the fire burn- 
ing on the altar in the coldest days and darkest nights of 
the Church of Scotland. Like the churches in this coun- 
try she has long disentangled herself from all State con- 
nections, to give herself wholly to the work of propaga- 
ting the Gospel. At first poor and despised like her Mas- 
ter, she is now, having been blessed of God, strong and 
healthy, and numbers upwards of 600 congregations. 
But in the days of her prosperity she is resolved to ad- 
here to the faith that cheered and sustained her in the 
days of her trial. In her theological school, conducted by 
learned and excellent men, she uses as one of her text- 
books the ".Outlines' of Theology," by the worthy son of 
the worthy sire who has given the name to the Princeton 
Theology. And now through her metropolitan Presbyte- 
ry, which on this point may be regarded as speaking the 
sentiments governing every other Presbytery, she joins 
this day in the congratulations to Dr. Hodge. 

I am especially drawn toward the third sister, who se- 
cured the attachment of my youth, and for whom I still 
bear a very tender regard, notwithstanding the connec- 
tions I have formed in this country. I refer now to the Free 
Church of Scotland of which I still reckon myself a min- 
ister. She too had to begin her life with a deed of self- 
sacrifice. Four hundred and fifty of us in one day relin- 



6 4 



ADDRESSES. 



quished all we had in this world, and this without know- 
ing how we were to be sustained. The people answered 
nobly to the appeal made to them, and catching the spirit 
of self-sacrifice, they have continued by means of a Gene- 
ral Sustentation Fund, to support their pastors in a way 
which no other unendowed church has succeeded in 
doing. While leaving the Established Church, the Free 
Church adheres to the doctrinal principles of the old 
Church of Scotland. She looks on Charles Hodge and 
her own William Cunningham, as the greatest theologi- 
ans of this age. Nor is it only among the theologians that 
the name of Dr. Hodge is known and appreciated ; it is 
esteemed by the thinking portion of the common people. 
I remember that when Hodge's " Way of Life " was add- 
ed to the library of the congregation with which I was 
connected, there was a keen competition between a ser- 
vant girl and a hand-loom weaver as to which should get 
the first reading. The professors of the three theological 
colleges of the Free Church, at Edinburgh, at Glasgow 
and Aberdeen have honored me by making me the bearer 
of this address signed by very distinguished names. 

These three churches are not united in one, but they are 
negotiating for this purpose, and they are meanwhile 
joining in various evangelistic labors, and they all join this 
day in bearing this testimony in favor of Dr. Hodge and 
his theology. I think that in all this we have proof that 
the head and the heart of all Scotland are sound, and 
that notwithstanding the attempt made by some to make 
her ape the Broad Churchism of England, a process 
which would end in bringing back the wretched Moderat- 
ism which good men thought that they had buried out 
of sight. Some look on that old theology as the Jews 



ADDRESS OF REV. HUGH SMYTH. 



regarded the Saviour, as a root out of a dry ground. 
And it is indeed a root well planted and spreading out 
roots like Lebanon, and, because it is a root and not a 
mere cut flower which must soon wither, bearing new 
and fresh branches. " His branches shall spread and his 
beauty shall be as the olive tree and his smell as Leban- 
on." That good old theology seems to me very like the 
character of him whom we this day delight to honor, and 
in whom we have the clear intellect, the fervent faith, 
with a love like that of Jonathan, " passing the love of 
women." 

Rev. Hugh Smyth, of Whitehouse, (near Belfast,) 
Ireland, presented an address from Magee College, 
Londonderry Ireland, portions of which he read, and 
added : 

Permit me, Sir, to add a very few words on my own 
behalf, and in explanation of the position which I have the 
honor to occupy before this assemblage. 

It was the intention of the authorities of Magee College to 
send one of their own professors to this celebration in token 
of their high esteem for the distinguished divine, whose 
writings and whose name are as well-known in Ireland as 
they are in New Jersey. But the professor who would 
have received the commission was unable to leave Ireland 
sufficiently early to make his appearance here to-day. It 
so happened, that I am the first student whose theologi- 
cal education was completed at Magee College, and, in 
addition to this, it was my good fortune to have taken the 
whole of my undergraduate course at Nassau Hall, so that 
it was considered not inappropriate that I should be em- 
ployed in the pleasing embassy which has been commit- 

5 



66 



ADDRESSES. 



ted to me. Sir, I hope that your kindness will be tolerant 
of these personal allusions. 

When referring to such a man as Dr. Charles Hodge, 
the language of panegyric is excusable only when it as- 
sumes the form of most profound gratitude. And any 
thing that I can say in regard to Dr. Hodge must be 
based upon a sense of personal obligation. And yet I do 
not regret that this is the case, for I nave learned enough 
of Dr. Hodge to be convinced that he is far better pleased 
to know, that he has conferred benefits upon the rank and 
file of the Presbyterian ministry, than that he has elicited 
the encomiums of the captains of the host of the Presby- 
terian army. I came here to say that the rising genera- 
tion of Presbyterian ministers in Ireland are being train- 
ed in that old theology which has been referred to so fre- 
quently to-day, and which has been so long taught in the 
Seminary at Princeton. So far as I know the new-fangled 
theology of Germany and the latitudinarian school of 
Oxford, have found no footing whatever in the Presby- 
terian Church of Ireland. And I am sure that the writ- 
ings of Dr. Hodge will have a most salutary effect in 
fortifying the theological students in Great Britain and 
Ireland, as well as in America, against that spirit of rest- 
lessness which is satisfied to sacrifice orthodoxy for the 
sake of novelty. Sir, in Ireland we intend to go on in 
the old paths, and we rejoice to know that one of the 
hands that shall hold the lamp to our feet is that of the 
illustrious theologian whom we are met this day to 
honor. 

That I have been permitted to take a part, even so 
humble in this celebration, I consider an inestimable 
privilege, and I shall so look back upon it as long as I 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. JOSEPH T. SMITH. 6/ 



live, and am spared to peruse the writings of our eminent 
and reverend father. 

Rev. Joseph T. Smith, D.D., of Baltimore, Md., of 
the Committee, said : 

I have a very large number of communications of the 
same complexion, which have been placed in the hands of 
the Committee, some of them from literary and theologi- 
cal institutions in all sections of our own. country, some 
from abroad. There is one from the University of Edin- 
burgh, and one from the Professors of Theology of the 
United Presbyterian Church of Scotland, which are just 
the echo of those we have heard from other parts ot 
Great Britain. 

Some letters I should be glad to read. We have them 
from the Theological Seminaries at Bangor, Boston, New 
Haven, Auburn, the Divinity School of the Protestant 
Episcopal Church at Philadelphia, the Lutheran Theolo- 
gical Seminary at Gettysburg, the United Presbyterian 
Seminary of the Northwest, the Union Theological Semi- 
nary of Virginia, from the Faculty and from a Committee 
of the Students of the Seminary at Columbia, S. C, the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary at Greenville, 
S. C, the Theological Department of Cumberland Univer- 
sity at Lebanon, Tenn., Danville Theological Seminary, 
Ky., Lane Theological Seminary, Ohio, and the youngest 
born of all our Seminaries, the Presbyterian Seminary at 
San Francisco, Cal.* 



* Deputations were also present during the earlier part of the day from 
the Reformed Theological Seminary, at New Brunswick, the U. P. Semi- 
nary at Newburgh, N. Y., the Drew Theological Seminary at Madison, 
N. J., and the Crozer Theological Seminary at Upland, Pa. 



68 ADDRESSES. 

Then of the Colleges we have communications from 
Williams, Amherst, Dartmouth, Brown, the University of 
Pennsylvania, Ursinus College, Pa., Columbian, Hampden 
Sidney, Miami University, the Universities of Wooster, 
O., of East Tennessee at Knoxville, and of Mississippi, from 
Hanover College, Ind., and Westminster College, Mo.* 

We have also letters from individual pupils and friends 
of Dr. Hodge, who regret their inability to be with us to- 
day. 

Prof. Henry B. Smith, D.D., LL.D., of New York, 
was announced as the representative of the Union 
Theological Seminary, and said in response to the 
Chairman's call : 

Mr. Chairman and Brethren : — It is only the acci- 
dent of my being born two or three years earlier that pre- 
vents you from hearing some more eloquent representa- 
tive of our institution ; for we are all here. [Applause.] 
I think that we are the banner institution in coming to 
celebrate this high festival. 

How rarely comes a golden wedding ! How much 
more rare is the semi-centennial of a professor even in a 
college ! There is one accomplished semi-centenarian of 
a College in New England whom I have seen here to-day — 
my former instructor.f And there is also present 
the revered and venerable recent President of Nas- 
sau Hall ; long may he still live to see the grow- 

*The University of the City of New York, Union College, Lafayette, 
Rutgers, Pennsylvania and Bowdoin were also represented by their Presi- 
dents, or other members of their Faculties. 

f Prof. A. S. Packard, D.D., of Bowdoin College. 



ADDRESS OF PROF. HENRY B. SMITH. 69 

ing glory of the College he has nurtured and adorn- 
ed ! [Applause.] But for the first time in America 
we celebrate to-day the semi-centennial of a professor in 
a theological institution. It is a matter of sincere con- 
gratulation that the merit is as incontestible as are the 
years. To speak on such an occasion is embarrassing, 
because there is so much that might be said, because there 
are so many to speak, because there is so much that has 
already been said, and also because we cannot speak of 
the living as we do in memory of the departed, nor can 
we speak before the present as we would about the 
absent. But after all, this assemblage itself, is the 
great speech of this occasion. [Applause.] All these 
ministers and men gathered from all parts of our land, 
from all parts of the world, are here to do honor to 
one most honorable name, to testify to the power and in- 
fluence of a long and noble life, consecrated to the highest 
welfare of our country as well as to the service of the 
Church of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 

We have not come together to-day merely to honor the 
man who is so worthy of our honor, but rather to recog- 
nize the honor which has been laid upon him by the Great 
Head of the Church. It is an occasion for us, and for this 
Theological Seminary to celebrate that divine goodness, 
and that gracious Providence which has given us such a 
life and such a character, producing results so wide- 
spread and beneficent. It is the work of God's grace 
and favor to his Church which to-day we would chiefly 
celebrate, — in training a man under such circumstances, 
and giving him so great success in his labors, and ena- 
bling him after fifty years of work to look back upon it all, 
and tell with thankful heart what the Lord hath done for 



7o 



ADDRESSES. 



him. In comparison with such a life I do not know what 
glory in peace or war can be called greater, or more 
worthy of the highest style of manliness or manhood. 

God chooses his instruments ; and we can now see 
' for half a century what has been the method of his Pro- 
vidence in the nurture and shaping of a marked life. Born 
in the midst of Christian influences, nurtured in that 
Church which is the Christian mother of us all, trained in 
those grand and ever enduring doctrines of our Reformed 
system which are to-day the strength of our country in 
all its parts, learned in the Scriptures, always teaching 
the same theological system of which he is a master, 
through all his career teaching in the same Seminary, and 
then fully trained, as is most fit and meet, for Seminary 
work, living to see gathered around him nearly three 
thousand students now gone abroad and preaching every- 
where, and having never heard, (as he himself told us) a 
word that wounded him from any one of them, — such a 
life is one which we may well contemplate with devout 
thankfulness to Him who is its giver and its guide. 

Here too we may find what is of common interest to 
the whole Church, to other institutions as well as this, — 
in some respects to our whole country. Although, of 
course, the Alumni have the chief part to-day, and w^e 
but come to ratify what they decree, yet the influence of 
such a life cannot be restricted ; its lines have gone out 
far and wide ; it has borne its fruits abroad as well as at 
home ; it is of signal importance to the social, moral, and 
even political culture and elevation of our whole wide 
country. 

And there is another circumstance about this celebra- 
tion which we may well emphasize ; and that is, that here 



ADDRESS OF PROF. HENRY B. SMITH. 



71 



we meet, as we so seldom can, to pay due honor also to Theo- 
logy ; to see what Theology is, and means, and how it is 
needed for the highest welfare and true progress of the 
nation. Literature is spoken of every day, and appeals 
to all ; merely literary men live in a popular atmosphere. 
But Theology must be studied in comparative seclusion ; 
its fruits are fruits of mature years ; and they come to be 
known in their full value only after a long lapse of time. 
And now a-days when we have so much to oppose it both 
on the side of Romanism arid on the side of Infidelity, it 
becomes us to honor theology all the more, and to seek 
fitting opportunities for expressing our sense of its vital 
necessity. Our theological institutions, too, must be 
built up firmly, and manned for their great work. Their 
foundations must be strengthened ; their course of in- 
struction made more scientific and more practical, that 
they may be well furnished for raising up a suitable 
ministry for the coming generation. For that ministry 
has an arduous and formidable work to. accomplish in this 
land, in doing battle against the hosts that are assailing 
not only the outposts but the very citadel of our Reform- 
ed faith, — that faith in which our land was planted, by 
which it has been blessed, and under which it is to grow 
until it may become the joy of the whole earth. [Ap- 
plause.] 

In behalf of our Seminary, then, I would congratulate 
him whose name is on all our lips to-day, for the high 
honor to. which he has been called, and for the eminent 
success vouchsafed to him. We offer to him the expres- 
sion of our deep and unfeigned esteem and affection. May 
he yet live many years to receive the grateful tributes of 
the Church which he has always loved, and which loves 



72 



ADDRESSES. 



him so well. And above all, may he now and evermore 
be blessed with all spiritual blessings in Jesus Christ our 
Lord! 

Rev. M. W. Jacobus, D.D., LL.D., of the Western 
Theological Seminary at Allegheny : 

Ten years ago we met, and it was the Jubilee of our 
Alma Mater. To-day it is the Jubilee of her birthright 
son, born in the house — priest of the household — with a 
double portion of the inheritance. 

Allegheny will not be slow to bear her congratulations 
on this occasion to the distinguished Professor, who is 
the father of us all, for in the faculty at Allegheny, if we 
except our venerable Emeritus Professor, who was be- 
fore the Seminaries, and our Junior Professor, who was 
reared among ourselves — we are all from Princeton ; and 
we are glad to acknowledge our maternity and our 
paternity to-day. 

What more could Dr. Hodge have done for Princeton 
or Allegheny than he has done ? He has set his living 
seal upon our Chair of Theology even as upon his own. 
He has given us a body of Divinity in the body* (laughter). 
He has given us systematic Theology in Ids own system in 
the flesh (laughter). And to-day we rejoice that we have 
an outline — an abstract shall I say — a second Edition of Dr. 
Hodge (laughter). But it is the only copy extant, and 
we here advertise that we do not loan it to our best 
friends (laughter). And I protest that it is not to be 
removed from our premises on any pretext whatever 
(great laughter). 

* Dr. A. A. Hodge. 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. M. W. JACOBUS. 



73 



Andover ! Princeton ! Allegheny ! Andover, 1808 • 
Princeton, 18 12 ; Allegheny, 1825. Andover Seminary 
grew out of an awakened zeal for the conversion of the 
heathen — when those young men in Williams College 
were praying and purposing for the evangelization of the 
pagan world. Princeton grew out of a quickened interest 
in Home Missions — when, as the Pastoral Letter of the 
Assembly states, there were four hundred vacant churches 
crying for ministers — and they could not be supplied — 
besides the whole Western Reserve of that day, destitute 
of a gospel ministry that must needs be raised up. And 
Allegheny grew out of the clamoring wants of the great 
Valley of the Mississippi, loud in its outcry for men, and 
opening before the Church the immense field for mission- 
ary operations. 

So that we stand to-day — Princeton and Allegheny — 
shaking hands across the mountains, intent upon the great 
object of evangelizing our beloved country, and of send- 
ing missionaries also to the pagan world. 

It was only on Thursday of the last week that we had 
a Reunion of the Allegheny Alumni, on the occasion of 
laying the corner stone of a Fire-proof Library Building. 
Between two and three hundred of our graduates came 
up to our Jerusalem — some from China and from Japan, 
and from Puget Sound and from Colorado, and Nebraska 
and Kansas, and from all the broad West. And our 
Alphabetical Roll was called, and more than a thousand 
names were read. These are the grandchildren to be 
added to the twenty-seven hundred children mentioned 
here to-day. 

The children and grandchildren bear testimony toge- 
ther, to the distinguished services of him whose name 



74 



ADDRESSES. 



has so often been spoken with high honor amongst us. 
When I was at the Seminary Drs. Alexander and Miller 
were in their prime. And as to Dr. Hodge, we literally 
sat at his feet (laughter), as he was stretched out upon his 
lounge in his temporary infirmity. And his own study 
was the class-room for a season. That study that we had 
regarded with a salutary awe, until we became familiar 
with it in our recitations. And there the department of 
Biblical criticism, manuscripts, versions, editions, citations 
— not commonly attractive — was spread out before us 
with a novelty and a freshness which made it interesting 
to us all. 

And it is worttry of remark that Dr. Hodge passed 
to the Chair of Theology by way of the Exegetical Chair, 
as first the expounder of the Old and New Testaments, 
having laid the foundations of his theology in this 
accurate and thorough exposition of the Word of God. 
It is by this means that his theology is so eminently 
Biblical, and is fortified so fully by passages of God's 
word. We note the fact as interesting and suggestive — 
that is the true theolog} 7 which is the Biblical theology. 
As Luther has said — " What is theology but the grammar 
and dictionary applied to the very words of Scripture?" 
This is the theology which we have learned, and in which 
we rejoice to-day. 

And then, when we think of a half century's work in 
this high department, dealing with the loftiest theories 
and solving the profoundest problems of truth, who can 
estimate the power that has gone forth from the lips and 
pen of this distinguished Professor. 

I think of the beginning — Dr. Alexander, in 1812, 
sitting solus, with three students— when Dr. Ashbel Green 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. M. W. JACOBUS. 75 

was President of the College, and when the troops were 
marching through the town for the war, Dr. Miller join- 
ing him the year after, and then Alexander and Miller, 
like Paul and Silas, finding a Timothy in Dr. Hodge. 
And so it was " Paul and Silvanus and Timotheus," of 
whom they could say, " Timothy our brother," and 
H Timothy my own son in the faith." And such a trio, as 
we remember it, was the highest type of a most beautiful 
and blessed brotherhood of faith and faithfulness. 

I think of the volumes of the Princeton Review, as they 
were thrown out year by year, to tell now by the very 
count of them, almost exactly his continuance at this post, 
like the rings of some great California tree, deposited 
year by year, and marking thus the age. So you can 
count his professional life by these volumes, that have 
so rich a deposit of his busy industry and successful toil, 
and which mark his years by the leading articles on great 
themes of controversy and of research from his fertile 
pen. 

Who can estimate what the fifty years have aggregated 
of patient teaching and publishing from this living and 
affluent source? What wonder that such a throng of 
living witnesses comes up hither to-day to bear their 
impressive testimony and to convey their earnest con- 
gratulations from every quarter. 

Last week we remembered, at our Allegheny Reunion, 
that our first Professor, who entered in 1829 upon his 
charge of a class of fifteen students, came from the faculty 
of Princeton College, the venerable Luther Halsey, who 
now returns again to us to be Lecturer Extraordinary in 
the Institution, which he was sent forth from this place to 
found, under the direction of the General Assembly. 



7 6 



ADDRESSES. 



And so we are bound together — Princeton to Allegheny, 
and Allegheny to Princeton. We belong to you, and 
you belong to us. I have done. 

Turning to Dr. Hodge : " The righteous shall flourish 
like the palm-tree. He shall grow like a cedar in Leba- 
non. Those that be planted in the house of the Lord 
shall flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still 
bring forth fruit in old age. They shall be fat and 
flourishing. To show that the Lord is upright : He is 
my Rock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him ! " 

The President announced and introduced Rev. 
Egbert C. Smyth, D.D., of the Theological Seminary 
at Andover, Mass., who in response said: 

We had a very courteous invitation from the Faculty 
of this Seminary to be with you to-day. The letter in- 
viting our Seminary to be represented on this occasion 
came to the first meeting of our Faculty which I was able 
to attend after a long and somewhat serious illness. My 
colleagues appointed me their representative, I suppose, 
evidently for the reason that the best way to tone up an 
Andover Professor was to send him to Princeton [laugh- 
ter]. I am here, therefore, to unite with you in most 
sincere, courteous, and friendly salutations. We rejoice 
with this Seminary, with its Alumni and friends, in the 
great work which has been doing here for half a century. 
Just as I left home I took from the office a religious paper, 
printed in Berlin, and the first article to which my atten- 
tion was called was a notice of that great work in The- 
ology, the first volume of which had reached the editors 
of that journal. That paper had been given to the idea 



ADDRESS OF DR. EGBERT C. SMYTH. 



77 



that all scientific theology arose in Germany [laughter], 
And yet, after going on a little way, it evidently came to 
the conclusion, which they frankly confessed, that Theo- 
logy in America is building in a truly scientific spirit, on 
its own foundations, and the work there is received as an 
honor not only to Princeton, but to our country. When 
passing through Boston, I fell in with a Pastor, a man 
whom I have known for a number of years as a man of 
great usefulness, and until then had thought him wholly 
a product of our New England Institutions. I remarked 
that I was on my way to Princeton. " Give my love to 
Dr. Hodge," said he, " and tell him that I carry to-day 
his lectures on my heart." And how many there are 
within the bounds of Presbyterian circles and influence, 
in our own land and in other lands, who carry his lectures 
not only in their heads, but also in their hearts. 

The old artists loved to represent the Evangelists, each 
standing by his golden urn, pouring forth a stream of 
living water, which thence flowed out to the four quar- 
ters of the globe. 

I think I may to-day appropriate that symbol ; there 
has been a man of faith, of prayer, and of God, here 
standing by his urn ; and that urn to-day is a fountain, 
and its waters are flowing over our land and the 
world. 

I came under a two-fold commission. One was to 
present most cordially these congratulations from my 
colleagues ; the other was from my physician, that on no 
account whatever should I be betrayed into a speech 
[great laughter]. 



78 



ADDRESSES. 



Rev. Theodore D. Woolsey, D.D., LL.D., late 
President of Yale College, was next introduced, and 
received a most hearty welcome. His address was as 
follows : 

I came not in a representative character, Mr. President, 
when I came on here, but as a personal matter ; that is, I 
certainly should not have been here if I had not felt a 
deep regard for my old instructor. For, little as I have 
had to do with theology, I must say what is not general- 
ly known, that I was in Princeton " a year and the 
long term," as it used to be called ; that I came as a 
student in 1821, soon after Dr. Hodge came as an in- 
structor, he receiving the appointment of Professor the 
next year. With Dr. Miller, who was an old friend of 
my family, I had little to do in the way of teaching, be- 
cause after the " year and the long term" I was called to an 
academic situation. But I began with my venerated and 
beloved friend, Dr. Hodge, the study of the Scriptures, 
and it was under him that 1 imbibed that love particularly 
for the Greek Scriptures, which has been so great that I 
have sometimes wished that I might take my Greek 
Testament with me into heaven. 

For Dr. Archibald Alexander I have the most profound 
reverence and respect, and particularly for this thing 
which impressed me more than anything else, his won- 
derful knowledge of the human heart, and of the Christian 
heart, in all its morbid and its healthful exercises, so that 
you may call him the Shakspeare of the Christian heart. 
I have never seen a man, nor do I expect ever to see the 
man, who has impressed me more in this particular. 

And now, as my coming was a personal thing, I must 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. R. G. VERMILYE. 79 

say that I feel not only great respect, but love towards 
that great and excellent man, honored by all the public 
in this land and throughout Europe ; that I feel a most 
sincere affection for him. Perhaps he may not remember 
a little incident that I may recall. Some years afterward 
I was in Bonn, and he was coming into Germany, I think 
in 1828, and stopped at Bonn. I saw him, and went up 
the river with him to enjoy his society. Then he spoke 
to me — (I may say, if permitted to speak of myself, that 
I was in darkness) — he spoke to me words of cheer, of 
comfort, and of strength. I do not remember the words, 
but I remember the impression, and that impression will 
go with me through life. 

And so it is, Mr. President ; the impression we make 
by the kindness and tenderness and gentle feeling with 
which we deal with those somewhat younger than our- 
selves, — this is a power that goes from the living man to 
the living man, and will be remembered, I could almost 
say, through eternity. There is nothing in my experience 
so vivid as these impressions that have been made by the 
kindness and love of those who have sought to do me 
good. 

I hope that my dear friend and instructor may have a 
sweet old age amid the joys of the family, and the respect 
of the public and of his old pupils, as great as he de- 
serves. 

Rev. Dr. R. G. Vermilye, of Hartford, Professor in 
the Theological Institute of Connecticut, answered fo 
the next call, and said : 

I was directed to present the congratulations of our 



8o 



ADDRESSES. 



Faculty to Dr. Hodge and Princeton Seminary ; and if I 
could find any words to express the love and esteem that 
have been uttered by my colleagues, I would use them 
for this occasion. We are all, sir, as a faculty, very great 
admirers of Dr. Hodge. We have for him a sincere and 
profound esteem and respect personally, and we have also 
for his work, I may say, a like respect and esteem. 

I recollect a remark which was made by a distinguished 
man in regard to another who reached the age of eighty, 
I think somewhat like this: that it was a great thing to 
go through a long life, to that period, honored and re- 
spected of men, without a word of reproach, and to die 
in the faith and hope of the gospel. I believe I know who 
said that. Now, sir, I would take up something like that 
and say it here to-day. It is a great thing to have spent 
fifty years in the service of Christ's Church, in such a 
work as this ; and I feel disposed to lift up my heart in 
gratitude to God who has given to the Presbyterian 
Church, to our land, and to the world a man like Dr. 
Hodge, who has done the work Dr. Hodge has done. 

We have some particular reasons, perhaps, for being in- 
terested on this occasion. We have the same faith that 
you have, sir. W e have the same Lord, the same Master. 
If you have here Jehovah-Jesus, why that is our God, that 
is our Saviour. We have no other trust than this same 
Jesus, and it is the honor and glory of this Christ, of this 
Master of ours, that we desire to see advanced by what- 
ever instrumentality, and wherever it may be. We can 
give you most heartily, Mr. Chairman, the right hand of 
fellowship there. We believe in the Father, Son, and 
Holy Ghost, and we love to speak and to think of the 
Lord, our righteousness and our strength. Then we have 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. R. G. VERMILYE. 8 1 

some alliances with the Presbyterian Church ; I believe I 
was brought up in the Presbyterian Church. We have a 
professor who is also an alumnus of this institution ; we 
have a Dutchman in our Faculty, and we have in the 
other professors gentlemen who have learned a great deal 
from Dr. Hodge, though not from his lips here. We all 
unite in fervent, earnest congratulations and wishes for 
his continued life and usefulness. 

May I say a single word in regard to the theology ? 
You talk about Princeton Theology. Well, sir, Dr. Hodge 
was right to-day, when he witnessed a good confession, 
in saying you never originated a new idea here. We 
have all the theology, and had I suppose before Princeton 
was founded, in the archives of New England, — all the 
theology that you teach here. I have studied his books, 
and I find that of which we have been sure among our- 
selves. We accept it, sir, most cordially as our theology, 
and I doubt whether you have the right to put your im- 
primatur especially on it, as the " Princeton Theology." 
[Laughter.] It is the theology of the Reformation. 
It is the theology which the fathers of New England, — 
if I cannot say our fathers by nature, I will say our 
fathers by adoption, — it is the theology which they 
had, and which they taught, and which we can teach on 
the basis of their teaching also. And I rejoice to think of 
the great work, — it is a great work — some pages of that 
theology I have read with almost the same interest with 
which I should read a novel ; well, I will say with more 
than the interest that I should read a novel [laughter] ; 
with more interest even than a novel is read by persons 
who are novel-readers. I was fascinated and carried on, 
page by page, by the logic, the learning, the simplicity, 

6 



82 ADDRESSES. 

the power, the spirituality. It is the truth as it is in Jesus, 
made alive for the edification of God's people. 

Let me repeat our congratulations to Princeton Semi- 
nary as well as to Dr. Hodge personally on this occa- 
sion. 

Rev. Joseph T. Cooper, D.D., was introduced as the 
representative of the United Presbyterian Seminary 
at Allegheny, and responded : 

I am sure you do not need any words from me as an en- 
dorsement of the theology. All that my brother has said 
meets my most hearty concurrence, and hence it is un- 
necessary for me to occupy your time with any remarks 
in relation to the sentiments that are set forth in that 
most remarkable and valuable work of which our vener- 
able father is the author. 

About six weeks have passed, Mr. Chairman, since my 
• wife read to me in the papers the notice of this meeting, 
and I distinctly remember saying : " God willing, there I 
mean to be, if it is within the reach of possibility ;" and 
here I am to-day ; and I would just take occasion to say 
that I do not think there is any heart in this assembly 
that is more in sympathy with the spirit of this meeting 
than is my own heart. 

I have the Princeton Review from the beginning ; — the 
very first volume bears that venerated name as its editor, 
Charles Hodge. And if there be any man in this country 
to whom I feel more indebted than to any other person 
for light on the great questions that have agitated 
theologians, — any man to whom I feel more indebted 
for bringing comfort to nry heart in seasons of spiritual 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. C. P. KRAUTH. 83 

darkness, — that man, let me say, is my venerable brother, 
Dr. Charles Hodge. It is, therefore, Mr. Chairman, a 
source of great gratification to me to be present on this 
occasion ; and my earnest prayer to God is, that the last 
days of our venerable father may be his best days ; that 
when his sun — the star of his life — sets, it may set as the 
morning-star that goes not down behind the darkened 
West and hides obscured among the tempests of the sky, 
but melts away into the light of heaven. God grant that 
it may be thus with him ! 

The President then called upon Rev. Dr. Hovey, 
President of the Baptist Theological Seminary at 
Newton, Mass., who had been in attendance through 
the day, but was temporarily absent from the church. 

Rev. C. P. Krauth, D.D., of Philadelphia, was next 
introduced as a member of the Faculty of the Theolo- 
gical Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church, 
and said in response : 

Mr. Chairman, — I may say with the venerable Dr. 
Woolsey, that my mission to-day is one of personal love 
as well as an official one ; that I feel a happiness to which 
I can give no adequate expression, in view of the fact that 
I represent in part a great church in that homage which 
I feel, that all that church would be inclined to bring to 
the feet of our distinguished father and brother. We, too, 
are not willing that you should in any exclusive sense 
speak of " Princeton Theology," or that you should have 
Dr. Hodge all to yourselves. We think him too great a 



8 4 



ADDRESSES. 



man to be the heritage even of so great a church as the 
Presbyterian Church. The name of Dr. Hodge is precious 
in £he Lutheran Church on both sides of the Atlantic, a 
name precious to all our scholars ; precious first, in its 
associations with those doctrines which the Presbyterian 
and Lutheran Churches hold in common, those great 
doctrines in maintaining which Lutherans and Calvinists 
stood shoulder to shoulder in the great warfare of the 
Reformation. To Dr. Hodge we, as Lutherans, have 
looked as one of the ablest and most distinguished ex- 
pounders of the truths which we hold in common, those 
great truths which gave to us the Reformation ; and his 
name is as dear to us in those relations as it is to your- 
selves. The name of Dr. Hodge is very precious in other 
relations. The Lutheran and Calvinistic Churches have 
divided on certain points. The future union, I believe, 
turns upon our ability to harmonize on these points. 
That union for which the Church is sighing is not to 
be a union of vague sentimentality— not a union to be 
purchased at the sacrifice of truth, but a union to be 
brought about by clearer apprehensions of the truth, by 
the ability of the divided churches to see eye to eye in 
regard to those very things on which we have had the 
great division within our Protestantism. 

When we see two great streams that roll widely apart 
into the ocean, and are told that the point of division was 
the water-shed from which they started, we feel that if 
ever they are to run in the same channel, that it must be 
not by widening the points at which they parted, not by 
attempting to ignore the fact of their division, but by 
going back to the point of sundering. When a great 
divine like Dr. Hodge in taking up the doctrines of a 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. C. P. KRAUTH. 85 

church differing from his own church, treats them with 
candor, love of truth, and the perfect fairness, which 
characterizes all his dealings with that which he is not 
able to maintain, we believe there is in this a bright 
presage for the future. And if the Church of Jesus Christ 
is ever to be brought together in a consolidated form, it 
will be by the work of such masterly hands, moved by 
such a saintly spirit. Therefore it is that we recognize in 
Dr. Hodge at once the exponent of a distinctive con- 
fessional theology, pure and uncompromising ; and at the 
same time the banner-bearer of the great hopes of the 
Church in the future, of the union of the Church of Jesus 
Christ. 

I have remarked to my own classes that it is sometimes 
said that there are no Calvinists now, no thorough-going 
Calvinists, of the old type, but for my own part I think I 
know two ; one is, old Dr. Hodge of Princeton, and the 
other is, young Dr. Hodge of Allegheny. It is first be- 
cause of the eminent consistency with his own position, 
and secondly because of the eminent fairness to others of 
our venerable friend, that while I regard him on the one 
hand as the ablest and most eminent living representative 
of dogmatic theology in the Presbyterian Church, I regard 
him on the other as a man working for that greater future 
for which we all long, when the divided flock of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, will be one, when all the names of our 
divisions shall be things of the past, and we shall be knit 
together not in a confusing love that sacrifices faith, but 
when, recognizing what Luther said, that " love endureth 
all things but faith endureth nothing," we shall stand once 
again in the love which is brought forth in the Christian 
Church by fidelity to the one truth, pure as it came 



t 



86 



ADDRESSES. 



from its living source. And in the great man for 
whom this day is hallowed we recognize one of the 
master spirits of the time, laboring for this glorious 
consummation. Therefore it is that we feel happy in 
mingling our tributes with yours, and in attesting the 
convictions wrought in our hearts of the eminent services 
not only to the Christian Church, but to the Christian 
world, rendered by Dr. Charles Hodge of Princeton. 

The President next called upon and introduced, 
Rev. Francis L. Patton, Professor-elect in the Semi- 
nary of the Northwest, at Chicago, who said, 

I came here to-day to form a single syllable in what Dr. 
Smith has characterized as the great speech of the occa- 
sion, and it is to me, a matter of great surprise, that I am 
called upon to speak. Indeed I feel that it is a matter of 
singular incongruity that I should stand here in the pres- 
ence of learned men to address this audience ; and per- 
haps, if we were technical, an impropriety, inasmuch as 
the General Assembly may yet veto the action of the 
Board of Directors whereby I am entrusted with the 
Chair of Theology at Chicago, and it would be very em- 
barrassing to me to carry through life the remembrance 
of having occupied this position, if such an event should 
occur. ' At the same time we would not be behind the 
Seminary at Allegheny, in expressing our affection for 
Dr. Hodge, and in making a statement which I think I 
am correct in making, that all the Professors of that Insti- 
tution are graduates of Princeton Seminary and children 
of Dr. Hodge. I do not know that any one can be in a 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. JOSEPH PACKARD. 87 

position to appreciate more fully the value of those 
volumes of Systematic Theology which are now being- 
given to the world than one who, so imperfectly prepared 
is called upon to give instruction in that department. It 
will be so convenient. Perhaps I may say again as 
among the youngest graduates of this institution, that 
there is no man living to whom I owe so much as I do to 
Dr. Hodge ; and that therefore to have been with }^ou to- 
day, to have heard once more his words, to have re- 
joiced with you, and to have wept with you, and with 
you to have shared his benediction, will be one of the 
most delightful memories of my life ; and in thus coming 
to celebrate the golden anniversary of our father's marr 
riage with our Alma Mater, perhaps even the youngest 
of his dutiful children may be welcome. This, fathers, is 
my apology for standing in your presence to-day. 

Rev. Joseph Packard, D.D., was called out as a Pro- 
fessor representing the Protestant Episcopal Theolo- 
gical Seminary of Virginia, and made the following 
response : 

Called upon so unexpectedly, I will not decline to say 
a few words on this occasion, lest I should be supposed 
not to appreciate the merits and value of Dr. Hodge as a 
commentator on the Scriptures and as a theologian. 

The institution with which I am connected has for one 
of its professors the class-mate, and room-mate for seven 
years, of Dr. Hodge, and I suppose he has not forgotten 
the name of John Johns. At least the Bishop said to me at 
parting from him that I must give his love to " Charlie " 
as he familiarly called him. There are not a few in the 



88 ADDRESSES. 

church with which I am connected, who value most 
highly the merits of Dr. Hodge as an interpreter of the 
Scriptures. We think that there may be applied to him 
that line of the poet Cowper, that 

" There is sound judgment laboring in the Scripture mine." 

We regard him, too, as a defender of the faith in his work 
which he has recently published on Systematic Theology. 
He has gone forth in his old age clad in the panoply of 
God, with the sharp two-edged sword of the Spirit in his 
right hand, and the shield of faith in his left, and his 
thrusts at Materialism, and Darwinism and Huxleyism 
show that his natural strength is not abated, that his arm 
3£ not nerveless. We need not ask on this occasion, what 
shall be done to the man whom the church delights to 
honor. We see it before us in this testimonial, so striking, 
so appropriate, and so perennial, in the foundation and 
the -endowment of a new professorship ; and I doubt not 
that when the history of Theology in America for the last 
fifty years shall be impartially written, the foremost name 
on the list of those who have deserved well of the church, 
— that name which will shine in letters of light as the first 
and foremost name on the list, — will, by the almost uni- 
versal consent of all the churches, be the name of Charles 
Hodge. 

Rev. Dr. Smith of Baltimore, read at this point let- 
ters from Bishops Johns and Mcllvaine, expressing 
their deepest sympathy with the occasion, and their 
regret at their compulsory absence. (See Part III.) 

The Professors of the Reformed Theological Semi- 
nary at New Brunswick, having been obliged to leave 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. E. P. ROGERS. 



8 9 



the church at an earlier hour, Rev. E. P. Rogers, D.D., 
of New York, was called upon to represent that insti- 
tution and denomination. His response was: 

Brethren : — I can hardly believe that some one of the 
Professors of our Seminary is not here ; I saw three of 
them this morning, and I am surprised that no one is here 
to answer to this call ; the call upon me is entirely unex- 
pected and undeserved. 

As I sat here to-day surrounded by familiar faces, I 
quite forgot that I was a Dutchman, and really thought I 
was a Presbyterian, and this idea was certainty cherished 
by the fact that there are upon this platform two men to 
whom I owe all the theology I ever had — two men to 
whom I am greatly indebted ; one is my former Pastor, 
Dr. Atwater, under whose ministry I sat for years, and 
whose theological opinions I need not in his presence 
endorse, and who did me a very great service in directing 
me to Princeton, and in giving me letters of introduction 
to the distinguished professors who occupied these chairs, 
two of whom are not, but one of whom, clarum et vener- 
abile nomen, remains unto this day. I shall never forget 
my arrival in this town and my welcome by Dr. Miller, 
that model of a Christian gentleman. As I rang the bell 
at his house, he opened the door. " Dr. Miller," said I. 
" Miller, Sir, is my name. Please walk' in." And in half 
an hour in his study I was at home with him. My resi- 
dence in Princeton was brief ; there were circumstances 
of a physical character which interrupted my course of 
study, which I was afterwards permitted to continue 
under my respected pastor. But I will not be behind 
any man here to-day in giving utterance to what we all 



GO 



ADDRESSES. 



feci, and what has been so eloquently expressed here, the 
veneration, respect and affection that I shall ever cherish 
for Dr. Hodge. 

And I will only add, Sir, that I have been reminded, as 
I thought of him, of the sentence in Mr. Everett's remark- 
able eulogy on the " Father of his Country," which I 
think will well apply to him, " When you look upon him," 
said he, " you look upon a man in whom love would soar 
up into reverence and reverence would melt back into 
love." 

Rev. S. H. Kellogg was next introduced as a Mis- 
sionary of the Presbyterian Church, and a Teacher in 
a Theological Training School in India. He said : 

Mr. President: — I suppose it will not be necessary 
for me to descend to that platform, as I occupy a lofty 
position here. (Among the ladies in the gallery.) 

I can only in a very few words express my sincere joy 
that I am permitted in God's Providence to be present 
to-day. I think that as long as I live I shall thank God 
that I was allowed to join in these congratulations to our 
honored and revered instructor. I take pleasure in say- 
ing, it is these truths which he here expounds and de- 
fends, that the brethren in India are endeavoring to 
deliver to the native teachers we are training up for the 
evangelization of the masses in that country ; and I am 
very happy to be able not only for myself, but for the 
body of missionary brethren whom our father has sent 
forth, to give him here our hearty congratulations and 
our heartfelt wishes for his prolonged life, that he may be 
a continued blessing to the Church of God in this 
country. I wish to refer to one single personal incident : 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. R. K. RODGERS. 9 1 

when I went to India there was one dear brother whom 
some of us have learned to love most tenderly, now with 
the Church glorified on high; that dear brother (the Rev. 
J. H. Myers) came to me in the Seminary and said to 
me, " I have been to talk with Dr. Hodge about going as 
a Missionary to India." " What did he say?" " He told 
me to go and * the greatest blessing and honor that I 
could ask for one of my own sons is that he should go far 
hence to the Gentiles.' " We have taken those words as 
Dr. Hodge's benediction upon our mission. God bless 
him ! 

Turning to the Alumni, the President called out 
Rev. Ravaud K. Rodgers, D.D., of the Class of 1818, 
<' one of the eldest of the Alumni present, and nearest 
in sight ;" who responded thus : 

I wish to say, Sir, with reference to this matter, that if 
all here had known Dr. Hodge as long as I have, they 
would all say with me, each man for himself, / love Dr. 
Hodge. If there are any here present who have any reason 
for preventing that declaration from going forth in all 
its strength and power, let them rise and say so. 

I could not help thinking, Sir, when the brother from 
Virginia was speaking of John Johns (as I call him), that 
he and Dr. Hodge (we used to call him " Charlie " then) 
and myself, were class-mates in college ; we were boys 
together, and God has permitted us to grow up together. 
And though it was not my privilege to sit at my brother's 
feet and to have been taught by him, for the Master call- 
ed me to the work before he was called to this solemn 
undertaking, I have rejoiced in the success with which 



9 2 



ADDRESSES. 



God has crowned his labors in this institution. Since I 
went out, as long ago as 1818, I have regarded it my high 
privilege to do all in my power for the Princeton Semi- 
nary ; I love it and I owe a great deal to it ; and there 
are very few who can say with stronger language and 
feeling than I can, " I love this institution." I love to 
come back to Princeton ; I love the College and the 
Seminary, I was two years at the former and three at the 
latter,— in all five years instruction in this place ; and I 
say u Princeton, with all thy faults I love thee still," The 
older I grow, Sir, the more I love these institutions, and 
love to come back here to the home of my two Alma 
Maters. It is not everybody who has two Alma Maters ; 
I am one of the notable few ; I can boast of two, that dear 
old College over, there where God pleased to meet me, 
and where I trust I gave myself to Him, and that old 
Seminary where I was allowed to sit at the feet of Alex- 
ander and Miller of blessed memory. God grant that 
the rich influences of the Divine Spirit which rested on 
that college in time past may rest there again ; God grant 
that the Spirit of the Master may descend upon those who 
now have the charge of training up a ministry for the 
the Church ! When we who are older shall be called 
away, we hope to rejoice in those on whom we may leave 
the mantle of Elijah, with the assurance that Zion shall 
not want for friends to carry out the great purposes of 
God. 

Rev. Alfred Nevin, D.D., was announced as Chair- 
man of a Committee appointed at a recent meeting 
of the Alumni of the Allegheny Seminary, to represent 
them on this occasion and tendered in a brief address 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. S. I. PRIME. 93 

the salutations and congratulations of those for whom 
he had come. 

Rev. S. Irenseus Prime, D.D., of the New York 
Observer, being called, responded substantially as fol- 
lows: 

My Friends, — During all this day of congratulation 
and rejoicing I have been under a sense of deep solemnity. 
I have been thinking how many would have rejoiced to 
be with us to-day, who yet are doubtless rejoicing in a 
greater assemblage, and in the midst of pleasures which 
we now only anticipate. It was very natural to go back, 
as some who have already spoken have done, to their first 
entrance into Princeton. I very well remember that one 
of the earliest events of my sojourn here was the funeral 
of Dr. Miller's son, when Dr. Hodge preached the sermon. 
You, Sir, and Dr. Boardman were present, and can tell 
how many years ago it was. When I heard that sermon 
from the lips of one of the professors in the Seminary I 
was impressed as I never had been before, and as I have 
scarcely ever been since, with the power of human 
sympathy and love, combined with great learning and 
strength of intellect ; and I said to myself it is that com- 
bination that gives power to the preacher of the Gospel 
of Christ. And if there is anything in the Princeton 
Theology, which makes the system here taught worthy 
of the name (to which some one of the learned professors 
told us we had no rights, because it was the theology of 
the Bible only), — if there is any one characteristic that 
gives to Princeton Theology a distinction and a power, it 
is that, with these rigid iron bands of truth, it is infused 



94 



ADDRESSES. 



and energized with that love which carries it home to 
the hearts of those who hear it. 

As I heard that sermon by Dr. Hodge, I saw that he had 
those attributes which are comprehended in this simple 
description, " that he has the heart of a woman and the 
head of a man." I have thought so ever since. I have 
not only revered him for the greatness of his intellect and 
the extent of his learning, but have also admired and 
loved him for those qualities which bring him near to the 
hearts of those who know him. 

During all the addresses to which we have listened to- 
day he has not been spoken of in one of the great depart- 
ments of his usefulness. The Princeton Review has been 
repeatedly alluded to, but no specific reference has been 
made to Dr. Hodge's power as a reviewer. I think, and 
I have had connection with the press now for thirty y ears, 
— I think Dr. Hodge the ablest reviewer in the world. 
Any one who has carefully studied that Princeton Review 
for the last thirty years will bear me witness when I 
testify to the trenchant power with which he has defended 
the truth, and put forth the peculiar views which have 
made that review a power in the Church and in the 
world. 

How great then has been the usefulness of a man who 
has trained so many men to preach the Word ! Three 
years ago I was the guest of the President of the United 
States, who said to me, " The man who preaches the 
gospel and leads men to Christ holds the highest office 
on the face of the earth." No matter how humble the 
place which one occupies in the Church of Christ, if he 
has the grace and the ability to turn men to righteous- 
ness, he holds the highest office here, and by-and-by will 



ADDRESS OF REV. DR. S. I. PRIME. 95 

shine among the stars with those whom God himself de- 
lights to honor. 

The exercises of the afternoon were now brought 
to a close, the benediction being pronounced by Rev. 
John Maclean, D.D., LL,D„ late President of the 
College of New Jersey. 



1 1 1. 

CORRESPONDENCE. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 

4 



I. 

Assembly's College, Belfast, April 4th, 1872. 
The Faculty of Belfast Presbyterian College have heard 
with the highest satisfaction that the Jubilee of the Rev. 
Professor Hodge of Princeton is to be celebrated on the 
24th of April, 1872. They thankfully bear their united 
testimony to the very distinguished services which Dr. 
Hodge has rendered to the Church Catholic as an ex- 
pounder and advocate of the great doctrines of the 
Reformation ; and they hereby depute their Secretary, 
the Rev. J. L. Porter, D.D., LL.D., Professor of Sacred 
Literature, to represent them at the Princeton celebra- 
tion, and to tender to Dr. Hodge and his worthy col- 
leagues their most cordial congratulations on the interest- 
ing occasion. Signed by order of the Faculty, 

W. D. Killen, D.D., President of Faculty. 
To the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary, 

Princeton, New Jersey, United States of America. 

II. 

Address from the Theological Professors, etc., of the Reformed 
Presbyterian Church, Scotland. 

To the Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D., Professor in the Theological 
Seminary, Princeton, New Jersey. 

Honored Father in Christ, — 

Permit us, as representatives of a Church, Presbyterian 
in its constitution and adhering with tenacity to the doc- 

(99) 



IOO 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



trines of the Westminster Confession of Faith, to approach 
you on the occasion of your Jubilee as a Professor, with 
an address of warm and respectful congratulation. 

The Church to which we belong is small, but it claims 
to be the oldest of the Presbyterian Churches, embracing 
that Confession, and it yields to none in attachment to the 
whole Evangelical Doctrine, of which it is the symbol. 
Regarding you as in many respects the ablest living ex- 
positor and champion of that doctrine, we cannot but feel 
the deepest interest in your welfare, and cherish the hope 
that you may long be spared as the venerated Nestor of 
Evangelical Presbyterianism to expound the faith, to the 
defence and illustration of which your life has been con- 
secrated. We admire your great resources, your varied 
acquisitions, your singular skill in the lucid presentation 
of truth,. the happy combination of candor and faithful- 
ness in your controversial discussions, and the glow of 
elevated feeling by which your writings are redeemed 
and sanctified to the noblest ends. 

Were we to specialize the chief literary services which 
in our humble judgment, you have rendered to the Chris- 
tian cause, we might dwell on your masterly exposition 
of the great Epistle to the Romans, — your defence of the 
doctrine of the Atonement, maintaining so firmly and so 
wisely its essential principle of a veritable substitution, 
and yet jealously securing the gracious amplitude and 
freedom of the Gospel offer, — your admirable essays on 
the nature of the Church, — and your comprehensive and 
enlightened views on the subject of natural religion. Nor 
can we overlook the genial and catholic spirit by which 
your writings are marked, affording an instance of the 
benefit accruing to the highest interests of religion when 
temper is subdued that truth may be all the more effect- 
ively commended ; — when self is crucified that Christ may 
be exalted. 

We have never seen, and never may see your face. It 
may cheer you accordingly to think that, far beyond the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IOI 



circle of your ordinary friendships, there are many who 
revere your name, and who bless God for a master in 
Israel so richly furnished with the gifts requisite for the 
vindication of the essential principles of the Christian 
faith. To us it tends to enrich the prospect of heaven, 
that we may there at length meet face to face with one 
who, in addition to all his attainments in the science of 
theology, and all his eminent services to the Christian 
cause, has by the shining and consistent piety of .his life 
"adorned the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." 

Any testimonial from us may be of small value. We 
trust, however, that it may not be without interest to 
your eyes, so far as it emanates from a Church still loyal 
to the real principles and laboring to fulfill the legitimate 
ends of the Covenants of Scotland, and of the martyrs 
who sealed them with their blood. 

May He who holds the stars in His right hand uphold 
}^ou in the grace and comforts of the Holy Ghost to the 
close of life, till you enjoy, in reward for all you have done 
on earth to expound and vindicate the Word written and 
inspired, direct and everlasting converse with the Word 
Personal and Divine ! 

We subscribe ourselves, yours in the bond of the Gospel . 
with profound esteem, 

Wm. H. Goold, D.D., 
Professor of Biblical Literature and Church History 

to the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

Wm. Binnie, D.D., 
Professor of Systematic Theology to the Reformed 

Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

Wm. Symington, 
Convener of Hall Committee of Reformed 

Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

Edinburgh, Scotland, 
April 2, 1872. 



102 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



nr. 

To the Rev. Professor Hodge, D.D. 

Beloved and Honored Sir, — 
.Having received information that you enter on the 
fiftieth year of your Professorate on the 24th day of the 
present month, and that this interesting event is to be 
suitably commemorated in America, and especially in the 
College of Princeton, which by your gifts and learning, 
your labors and character, you have done so much to 
adorn ; 'we, the members of the United Presbyterian 
Presbytery of Edinburgh, have resolved to join with other 
ecclesiastical bodies and churches in sending you the ex- 
pression of our highest respect and Christian congratula- 
tion. We represent as a Presbytery 59 congregations 
consisting of more than 26,000 members. But we are 
certain that all the Presbyteries of our Church with its 
607 congregations, had they been aware of the time of 
this happy Jubilee, would have been equally prompt and 
unanimous with ourselves in seeking to mingle their con- 
gratulations with those of all the " Churches of the 
Saints." 

We feel ourselves all the more called upon to address 
you, because we own ourselves to be your debtors. By 
your admirable exegetical writings, by your Theological 
Essays doing successful battle with existing errors and 
evils, by your works on Systematic Theology which com- 
bine in them the best qualities of the writers of the 
Reformation and the Puritan period, and yet have all the 
life and freshness of our own times, you have helped 
mightily in the establishment and defence of Christian 
truth, and done much, both in your own and in other 
countries to teach those who are the teachers of others ; 
while in your personal character you have adorned the 
doctrine in whose vindication you have long done such 
noble service. We honor you as the instrument, and we 
glorify God in you. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IO3 



We rejoice to know that at so advanced a period in 
your ministry .and Professorate you retain all your mental 
vigor, exhibiting all the maturity of age but none of its 
decay, and our united prayer is, that your preeminent 
usefulness may yet be greatly prolonged, and that at the 
end, having finished your course and kept the faith, you 
may "receive a full reward." 

In name of the Presbytery, 

William Reid, Moderator. 
William Bruce, Clerk. 

Edinburgh, $th April, 1872. 

IV. 

To the Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D., Princeton, New Jersey. 

Reverend Sir, — 

We, the Principals and Professors of the Theological 
Faculties of the Free Church of Scotland at Edinburgh, 
Glasgow and Aberdeen, desire to offer our most cordial 
congratulations to you on your entrance on the fiftieth 
year of your Professorship in the Theological Seminary 
at Princeton. 

We only express to yourself what, on occasions without 
number, we have expressed to others, when we say that 
we regard your services in the cause of revealed truth, 
extending over half a century, as of inestimable value, 
and that Ave look on you as one of the chief instruments 
raised up by the head of the Church, in these times of 
doubt and contention, for maintaining in its purity the 
faith once delivered to the saints. 

While the Princeton Review, under your management, 
has continued from year to year to bear testimony fear- 
lessly, yet firmly, for the truths of God's Word, and to 
commend them alike to the understanding and the con- 
science, and while your Commentaries have placed these 
truths in a similar light before the mass of readers, your 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Systematic Theology, the crown of your labors, has 
brought together the invaluable information and reason- 
ings of your Articles and Legtures, and forms a Treasury 
of Evangelical truth expressed in a spirit eminently calm 
and Christian, which will extend still more widely the 
wholesome influence of your life and labors. 

We congratulate you further on the honorable and dis- 
tinguished place which you hold in the esteem of the 
whole Presbyterian Church, and of all churches that 
prize Evangelical truth, — on the affectionate regard so 
warmly cherished for you by your students both past and 
present, — and on the happy domestic influence which 
through God's blessing, has given to the Church sons 
likeminded with yourself, following in your footsteps, and 
aiding in your work. 

It is our earnest prayer, and that of the whole church 
with which we are connected, that you may yet Jong be 
spared to your family, to the Seminar)*, and to the Church 
universal, and eminently blessed in such further labors as 
your strength may enable you to undertake, and that in 
God's good time an entrance ma} 7 be ministered to you 
abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and 
Saviour Jesus Christ. 



(Edinburgh.) 
ROBERT S. CANDLISH, D.D., 

(Princeton and Edinburgh,) 
Principal of the New College, Edinburgh. 

ALEXANDER DUFF, D.D., LL.D., 
Professor of Evangelistic Theology 

GEORGE SMEATON, D.D., 

Professor of Exegetical Theology. 

ROBERT RAINY, D.D., 

Professor of Church History. 

A. B. DAVIDSON, LL.D., D.D., 
Professor of Hebrew, etc. 

JAMES MacGREGOR, D.D., 

Professor of Systematic Theology. 

WILLIAM G. BLAIKIE, D.D., LL.D., 

Professor of Apologetics and Pastoral 
Theology. 

JOHN DUNS, D.D., F.R.S.E., 
Professor of Natural Science. 



( Glasgow and A berdeen.) 

PATRICK FAIRBAIRN, D.D., 

Principal of Free Church College, Glas- 
gow. 

GEORGE C. M. DOUGLAS, D.D., 

Professor of Hebrew in the F. C. College, 

Glasgow. 

ISLAY BURNS, D.D., 

Professor of Divinity, F. C. College, Glas- 
gow. 

JAMES LUMSDEN, D.D., 

Principal and Senior Professor of Theo- 
logy, Free Church College, Aberdeen. 

DAVID BROWN, D.D., 

(Princeton and Aberdeen,) 

Professor of Theology and Church His- 
tory, Aberdeen. 

WM. ROBERTSON SMITH, 

Professor of Hebrew, etc., Free Church 
College, Aberdeen. 



(This address was elegantly engrossed on vellum and forwarded in a purple morocco case.) 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



V. 

To the Board of Directors of the Theological Seminary of Prince- 
ton, New Jersey. 

Gentlemen, — 

Having learned that it is your intention to signalize' the 
completion' of the fiftieth year of Dr. Charles Hodge's 
official life as Professor of Systematic Theology, by a 
ceremonial befitting the occasion, we, the members of 
the Faculty of Magee Presbyterian College, London- 
derry, Ireland, beg to be permitted to take part with you 
in this observance, so far as to send to you and to the 
illustrious Theologian, whose professional Jubilee is about 
to be celebrated, our most cordial salutations. 

We are sensible that to give flattering titles to man, 
even under that strong temptation which now besets us, 
would neither comport with the obligations of Christian 
fidelity and love, nor afford any real pleasure to one who 
has spent a long life in illustrating and defending the doc- 
trines of grace. But whilst Dr. Hodge's disciples — and 
the actual roll of the students in the Seminary he has 
adorned furnishes no adequate representation of their 
number — would be the first to acknowledge that his truest 
witness is in heaven and his most enduring record on 
high, at the same time they may, in perfect harmony with 
this admission, give themselves the satisfaction of regis- 
tering, at such a time as the present, their sense of the 
eminent services he has been enabled to render to Theo- 
logical Science, and to the Universal Church. 

It is given to few men to survive with the eye undimmed 
and the natural force of mind unabated, the labors of half 
a century of public life. When such a case does occur it 
is impossible to meet it as one of the ordinary incidents of 
human history. But when a career so prolonged has been 
marked by sustained and successful efforts in the elucida- 
tion of Divine truth, and in guiding the current of human 



106 CORRESPONDENCE. 

opinion upon those subjects which involve eternal issues, 
we cannot contemplate the retrospect without emotions 
of thankfulness and joy. 

That old Theology which rightly traces its descent 
from the Pauline Epistles, which found in Augustine a 
subtle interpreter, and in Calvin a defender both scientific 
and fearless, will hereafter be associated with the name of 
another expounder — that of Dr. Charles Hodge of Prince- 
ton. His great work on Systematic Theology, now pass- 
ing through the press in this country, will be an enduring 
monument of the author's industry, orthodoxy and genius ; 
it will doubtless see many jubilees in the progress of the 
ages yet to come ; for it will take rank beside the disserta- 
tions of Augustine and the demonstrations of Calvin, as 
among the most lucid expositions of truth which Christian 
erudition has produced. 

We are gratified to think that God has vouchsafed to 
the Presbyterian Church the honor of having raised up 
within her pale such a Theological Teacher as Dr. Hodge ; 
and we feel confident that the members of that Church 
will show themselves capable of appreciating their privi- 
leges, only so long as they remain true to the system of 
doctrine which he has expounded, and which is built upon 
the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus'Christ 
himself being the chief corner stone. In proportion as 
our seminaries of learning are characterized by tenacity 
of these doctrines, so will they be influential in the con- 
flicts that have yet to be waged for the emancipation of 
the human mind, the vindication of the Gospel, and the 
evangelization of the world. 

If anything were needed to make firmer the ties which 
bind us to our kindred on the other side of the Atlantic, 
beyond the arguments of a common blood, a common 
liberty, a common literature, and a common religion, such 
an additional incentive to unity would be found in our 
participation in the benefits which Dr. Hodge has con- 
ferred upon us, upon our Church and our country, by the 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



I07 



works which he has published. We congratulate the 
Seminary of Princeton and the Christian people of 
America, on their having among themselves a man who 
occupies the front rank among living theologians ; but we 
trust you will forgive us if we claim a share in this pos- 
session, and grudge to Princeton, or even to America, the 
exclusive ownership of one, who by the grace of God has 
made himself the common property of the Church of Christ. 

We cannot conclude without assuring you that it was 
our desire to appoint one of our number to carry our 
felicitations to you and to Dr. Hodge ; but circumstances 
have prevented the accomplishment of our wishes. We 
have however availed ourselves, at your approaching 
celebration, of the presence of the Rev. Hugh Smyth, a 
young and highly respected member of our Irish General 
Assembly, who is in some respects a connecting link be- 
tween you and us, as he is at once an Alumnus of the 
College of New Jersey, and a former student of Magee 
College. He will be the bearer on our behalf of this con- 
gratulatory message. 

We remain, gentlemen, yours very faithfully, 
Thomas Witherow, 

Professor of Church History, 
Richard Smyth, 

Professor of Theology. 
x James G. Shaw, 

Professor of Metaphysics. 
John J. Given, 
Professor of Oriental Literature and Henneneutics. 
J. T. McGaw, 

Professor of Logic and Rhetoric. 
Henry Sheil McKee, D.D., LL.D., 
Hon. M.R.S.L., 
Professor of Latin and Greek. 
J. R. Leebody, 
Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. 
Londonderry, 6th April, 1872. 



io8 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



VI. 

University of Edinburgh, 
2W1 March, 1872. 
The Theological Faculty met this day at the close of 
the Winter Session of the University ; Present, Thomas 
J. Crawford, D.D., Professor of Divinity and Dean of the 
Faculty of Theology ; William Stevenson, D.D., Professor 
of Ecclesiastic History; Archibald H. Charteris, D.D., 
Professor of Biblical Criticism and Biblical Antiquities ; 
and David Liston, M.A., Professor of Hebrew. 

Inter alia : 

There was laid before the Faculty a letter from the 
Rev. Professor Watts of Belfast, conveying the announce- 
ment, that on the 24th of April Dr. Charles Hodge, Senior 
Professor of Princeton Theological Seminary, New Jersey, 
will have completed the fiftieth year of his Professorate ; 
and that arrangements have been made for the celebration 
of this event in such a manner as may afford, not only to 
the Alumni of Princeton College, but to others who may 
be desirous of joining with them, an opportunity of ex- 
pressing to Dr. Hodge those sentiments of respect, esteem, 
and admiration with which he is regarded by them. 

The Faculty esteem it a high privilege to take part in 
celebrating the Jubilee of one whose praise may be truly 
said to be in all the churches. Though personally 
strangers to the venerable and distinguished man to 
whom this merited tribute is to be rendered, they have 
been long and intimately acquainted with his writings, 
and have thence been led to form the very highest esti- 
mate of him, whether as an able and learned expounder 
of Holy Scripture, as a singularly profound and accom- 
plished theologian, or as an earnest and masterly defender 
of the purity and authority of revealed truth against all 
attempts to corrupt or controvert it. 

The Faculty desire to express their thanksgivings to 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IO9 



Almighty God for all the goodness of which His esteemed 
servant has hitherto been partaker throughout a long and 
honorable and useful life, — and for the inestimable services 
rendered by him, not only to those among whom he was 
specially called to labor, but to the whole Church of 
Christ throughout the world. They heartily join with 
their brethren at Princeton in tendering to Dr. Hodge their 
warm congratulations on having completed the fiftieth 
year of his professional labors in that Seminary which he 
has so greatly dignified and adorned. And they earnestly 
pray that the God of all grace who hath blessed him 
hitherto would bless him still, — granting to him yet a 
continuance for many years of undiminished usefulness 
and happiness, — and finally bestowing upon him the rich 
reward of those who have turned many to righteousness, 
and who shall shine as the stars forever and ever. 

The Faculty direct an extract of this Minute to be sent 
to the Rev. William Henry Green, D.D., Secretary to the 
Board of Directors of the Princeton Seminary, with the 
request that he would have the kindness to present it to 
Dr. Hodge on the occasion of his Jubilee. 

Extracted from the Minutes of the Theological 
Faculty of the University of Edinburgh by 

Thos. J. Crawford, D.D., 

Dean of the Faculty of Theology. 

VII. 

Edinburgh, March 19, 1872. 

We, the undersigned, Professors of Theology in the 
United Presbyterian Church, desire in connection with 
the approaching Jubilee of the Rev. Dr. Hodge of Prince- 
ton, to join our warm congratulations with those of our 
Christian brethren and teachers of sacred science through- 
put the world. We are deeply grateful to God for the 



I IO 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



preeminent services rendered by Dr. Hodge in so many 
departments of Christian Theology, and for his contribu- 
tions to its literature which have become the possession 
of the universal Church of Christ. We congratulate our 
American fellow-Christians on having still preserved to 
them one whose name and services shed so much lustre 
on the new world, while they reflect so much light upon 
the old ; and it is our fervent prayer, that not only the 
various sections of the Presbyterian Church, but all the 
branches of the true Church every where may yet for 
years to come rejoice in the continued labors and useful- 
ness of one who has been in a degree rarely equalled in 
any age or country the expositor and champion of our 
common Christianity. 

James Harper, D.D., S.T.P., 

United Presbyterian Church of Scotland. 

N. McMichael, D.D., S.T.P., 

United Presbyterian Church. 

John Eadie, D.D., LL.D., 

Professor United Presbyterian Church. 

John Cairns, D.D., S.T.P., 

United Presbyterian Church. 



VIII. 

(Extract from a letter from Bishop McIlvaine of Ohio.) 

Cincinnati, March 8, 1872. 

... As one of the associates and friends of Dr. Hodge, 
than whom there can be but very few living whose loving 
association began so early, or under circumstances so 
calculated to make it abiding, I cannot withhold an ex- 
pression of lively interest in the contemplated celebration, 
as a rendering of honor to whom it is most justly due, 
and of praise and thanksgiving to the fountain of all wis- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



I I I 



dom and grace for having given to His Church on earth 
for so many years a light so bright and shining. 

It is now some fifty-eight years since, while students 
together in the College of my native State, our friendship 
began ; and nearly as many years since, by the grace of 
God making us new creatures in Christ Jesus, we became 
brethren one of another, in a very near and affectionate 
association. We were then, as now, of different churches 
in the one everliving Church of Christ; but I am thank- 
ful to be able to say, that no dividing lines have ever 
touched our oneness of heart, or hindered the conscious- 
ness and manifestation of that confiding Christian attach- 
ment with which our religious life began. 

It is under these circumstances that I regard with great 
pleasure the intended meeting and its object. It is very 
meet and right thus to acknowledge the goodness of God 
in having given and preserved to the work of His truth 
in the earth, during so many years of exacting study and 
labor, a teacher so efficient and beloved, and an author so 
enlightened and wise ; at whose lips so many have 
learned how to make known and defend the doctrine of 
Christ, and for whose writings of eminent learning and 
power, the whole Church is deeply indebted to the grace 
which made him sufficient for such valuable service. 

Desiring my respectful and fraternal regards to those 
who shall meet together on the 24th of April, and hoping 
to meet them in that blessed Assembly and Communion 
of which it will be the universal joy to ascribe all honor 
and glory " to Him that sitteth on the throne and to the 
Lamb forever and ever," I remain 

Your friend and brother, 

Chas. P. McIlvaine. 



112 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



IX. 

(Extract from a letter from Bishop Johns of Virginia.) 

Malvern, April 2, 1872. 

... I find that I have miscalculated (in publishing my 
list of official appointments for this season, beginning 
April 22) and that my error will deprive me of the great 
gratification of uniting with you in the interesting celebra- 
tion. 

I need not assure you that the disappointment is griev- 
ous to me. Apart from the pleasant and profitable inter- 
course which I anticipated, I earnestly desired by my 
presence to recognize my relation to a Seminary which I 
can never cease to remember with gratitude and affection, 
and to join in thanksgiving to God for the prolonged life 
and eminent usefulness of my beloved brother — beloved 
by none as by 

Yours truly, 

J. Johns. 

(Letters similarly expressive of sympathy with the 
occasion, and regret at their inability to be present, were 
received from Bishops Clark of Rhode Island and Little- 
john of Long Island, former pupils of Dr. Hodge.) 

x. 

To the Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D., Professor of Theology in 
Princeton Theological Seminary. 

Rev. and dear Sir, — 

The Faculty of Lane Theological Seminary desire to 
assure you in the most emphatic terms of their cordial 
union with all your Presbyterian, all your Christian 
brethren, in affectionate and reverent congratulation on 
your completion of the half century of labor in theological 



CORRESPONDENCE. - II3 

instruction soon to be celebrated by great numbers of 
your pupils and friends gathered at your home. 

We thank God, Sir, on your behalf, for sparing your 
life so long, and for upholding you unto so able and faith- 
ful a work of instruction to fifty successive classes of can- 
didates for the ministry, and through them, and by your 
printed works, to untold numbers of ministers and Chris- 
tians besides. 

We sincerely pray that God's good Providence may 
make the coming celebration as joyous as those who love 
you best can desire ; that a prolonged and serene evening 
of life may be vouchsafed to you ; and then that an en- 
trance may be ministered unto you abundantly into the 
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. 

Most sincerely, your brethren and fellow- 
servants of Christ and His Church, 



Lane Theological Seminary, 
Cincinnati, April 8, 1872. 



L. J. Evans, 
E. D. Morris, 
H. A. Nelson, 
Thos. E. Thomas. 



P. S. — Our colleague, Professor Smith, is at this time 
in England. 

XL 

San Francisco, Cal., April 9, 1872. 

Dear Brother,—- 

. . . We, on this far Pacific shore, hail this memorable 
day with a gladness and thankfulness no less than yours 
on the Atlantic coast. Separated by this great continent, — 
ourselves the youngest, as you are the oldest, of the 
Theological Seminaries of our Church, — we are with you 
in heart and soul, in thankfulness for a life thus prolonged, 



ii4 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



whose fruits of labor and blessing to the Church have 
been ripening and accumulating till the present hour, — in 
benedictions on him whose instructions, whose example 
and whose writings have done so much not only to fit us 
for usefulness, but to encourage and quicken us in the 
toils of the service of our precious Redeemer. Deprived 
as we are of the happiness of being with you, we yet 
enjoy a deep happiness in thus mingling our emotions and 
affections in the same pure current with your own. We 
have ever remembered with affection and pride that we 
sat as learners at the feet of this beloved disciple ; and 
under the power of this remembrance we send you these 
congratulations, less w r ith the feeling of theological in- 
structors than with the grateful emotions of those who 
feel that their obligations to this beloved Professor have 
ever been too great to be repaid by anything but grati- 
tude and benedictions. In love to our common Redeemer, 

Very truly yours, 

George Burrowes, 
W. A. Scott, 
W. Alexander. 

Not as an Alumnus but as an adopted son of Princeton 
I cordially join in the sentiments expressed by my 
coadjutors in this infant institution. Glorious old Prince- 
ton honored in the long line of its Professors — never did 
it stand higher in the estimation of the Church it has 
faithfully supplied than at this day which forms the Jubilee 
of Dr. Hodge. 

D. W. Poor. 

XII. 

Auburn Theological Seminary, April 9, 1872. 
My dear Brother, — 

.... My colleagues have desired me to delay for a 
while sending an answer in the hope that some one of us 
at least might see his way clear to attend, but the occa- 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



115 



sion comes so near our own anniversary, that we are all 
of us obliged reluctantly to decline. My brethren join 
with me in the heartiest congratulations to Dr. Hodge 
and to the Theological Seminary which has had the rare 
felicity of enjoying his services during so truly patriarchal 
a period. 

.... My own Seminary life at Princeton was just at 
the period of stormy agitation which immediately pre- 
ceded the disruption of our Church. All newspapers and 
all ecclesiastical meetings resounded with the din of arms. 
But in the Seminary, apart from personal discussions 
among the students, all was peace. The Faculty, in com- 
mon with a large portion of the Church, had no doubt been 
misled by exaggerated representations into believing that 
the Synods of Western New York were given over to 
Pelagianism and wild disorder ; and they were induced 
though slowly and reluctantly to join in the sharp surgery 
which was thought necessary for the salvation of the 
body. But so far as the Seminary was concerned, these 
wise and good men kept their sentiments to themselves. 
They never thought it necessary to lash the passions of 
the students, or raise up successive generations of minis- 
ters, full charged with the divisive and unlovely spirit of 
party ; and it may be very much owing to this that so 
many of their pupils were found prompt and active in 
applying balm to the wounds of our Church, and nursing 
her into a sound and healthy cure. 

.... Dr. Hodge could not have occupied the impor- 
tant chairs he has for so many years filled — not by toler- 
ance but with the steadily growing confidence and affec- 
tion of the church, without a somewhat rare combination 
of good qualities. It is little that he is a good scholar. 
It is not everything that he is an acute and profound 
theologian. It is the union of learning with intellectual 
superiority commanding respect, with broad good sense, 
cheerfulness, kindliness, unaffected and unpretentious 
piety winning confidence, that has made him dear to so 



n6 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



many hundreds of pupils and to so large a circle of friends. 
I do not know that it would be any marked abuse of 
words to say that he is a man of genius, but I am very 
sure that his long and distinguished career of usefulness 
is due to his possessing qualities much better than 
genius. 

.... With affectionate personal regards and best 
wishes for the prosperity of the Seminary, I remain, my 
dear Sir, 

Very truly yours, etc., 

Sam. M. Hopkins. 



XIII. 

Theological Seminary, Columbia, S.C., April 8, 1872. 

Rev., and dear Brother,— 

I am instructed by the Faculty of this Seminary to ex- 
press to you the interest which we feel in the celebration 
of April 24th. 

Three of our number sat in our earlier years under the 
instructions of Dr. Hodge, and we all thankfully acknowl- 
edge the profit we have received from the long-continued 
and useful labors of this Nestor of our American Presby- 
terian divines. 

But the duties of our own Seminar}^ will prevent us 
from being present at the festivities which are to be ap- 
propriately had in his honor. 

In behalf of the Faculty, 

Geo. Howe, Chairman. 



Theological Seminary, Columbia, S. C., April 20, 1872. 
Rev and dear Sir,— 

At a meeting of the students of this Seminary, held 
April 19th, 1872, the enclosed paper was unanimously 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



117 



adopted ; and we, the undersigned, were appointed a 
Committee to forward a copy to you. 

Respectfully, 

W. S. Bean, Senior Class. 

W. T. Thompson, " 

W. J. McKay, Middle Class. 
™ T TT lt > Committee. 

T. L. Haman, 

Chas. R. Hemphill, Junior Class. 
H. C. Ansley, " 



Rev. Charles Hodge, D.D. 

Rev. and dear Sir — 

We, the students of the Theological Seminary at 
Columbia, extend to you our congratulations on this the 
fiftieth anniversary of your Professorship. 

With many others whom your labors have benefitted 
we acknowledge our obligations to you as a Teacher of 
God's Word, and a defender of our common Presbyterian 
faith ; and while we thank the great Head of the Church 
that your life has been so long spared, we pray that many 
peaceful years of labor may yet be granted you, and that 
you may continue to serve the Church of God, until the 
Master sees fit to call you hence to that abode where, 
when earthly knowledge shall have vanished away, we 
shall know even as also we are known. 



XIV. 



New Haven, Ct., April 23, 1872. 

My dear Sir,-— 

Your friendly invitation to the Theological Faculty to 
attend the Semi-Centennial Anniversary of Dr. Hodge 
was laid before them, and we had hoped until the very 
last moment that some of us would be able to participate 
in this tribute of respect to him. But Dr. Harris, who 



n8 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



was hoping to be present, has just embarked for Europe, 
and the other gentlemen are especially engaged in ex- 
aminations and other matters connected with the close 
of the term. Under these circumstances may we request 
of you the favor to convey to Dr. Hodge our hearty 
congratulations, with our best wishes for his health and 
happiness ? 

With high regard I remain very truly yours, 

George E. Day, Sec. Theological Faculty. 



(Extract of a letter from President Porter.) 

Dear Sir,— April 20, 1872. 

... I had hoped to be able to be presents myself, and 

did not relinquish this hope till very lately My 

excellent friend, Rev. President Woolsey, will present to 
Dr. Hodge, and the gentlemen present, the cordial salu- 
tations and congratulations which the friends of Christian 
learning and of evangelical faith cannot fail to extend 
towards so faithful a laborer in the service of our com- 
mon Master. The gathering of the representatives of so 
many Christian institutions on this occasion, and of so 
many Christian students, pastors and workers, who hold 
the common faith in oneness of spirit notwithstanding the 
diversities of its manifestation, cannot fail to be hailed as 
a cheering and hopeful sign of the times. We have 
gratefully recognized the courteous attentions and the 
cordial feelings of our brethren connected with the Col- 
lege of New Jersey, at our public celebrations in New 
Haven, and would express our acknowledgment of the 
invitation to be represented on this occasion, so interest- 
ing in the history of theological education in this coun- 
try. Very respectfully for myself, and 

In behalf of the Faculties, 

Noah Porter. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



II 9 



XV. 

Boston (Methodist) Theo. School, April 1, 1872. 
Dear Sir, — 

It would afford our Faculty unfeigned pleasure to be 

represented at the proposed celebration Should 

it be found practicable to delegate one of our number to 
bear our congratulations and tribute of Christian esteem, 
due notice will be given. Should it not, I beg that you 
will kindly act as our proxy, and express to your vener- 
able President our lively participation in the rejoicings 
of the day, and our sincerest good wishes for his future 
prosperity. Sicut patribus sit Dens nobis. 

Yours fraternally, 

W. F. Warren. 

(A similar letter from Rev. R. S. Foster, D.D., Presi- 
dent of Drew Theological Seminary, was brought by 
Professor Henry A. Butts, who represented that Semin- 
ary.) 



XVI. 

Crozer Theological Seminary, 

Chester, Pa., April 18, 1872. 

Dear Brother,— 

.... It will give me very great pleasure to be a wit- 
ness of the honor conferred on one so worthy .to receive 
a grateful tribute from all lovers of the truth of which he 
has been so able and eminent a defender. 

Among the multitudes who honor Dr. Hodge, there 
are none who hold him in higher esteem than the mem- 
bers of the Baptist Churches. For years he has had 



120 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



their sympathy, their prayers, and their admiration, and 
they rejoice in this recognition of his work. 

Yours very truly, 

Henry G. Weston. 



XVII. 

Southern Baptist Theo. Sem., 

Greenville, S. C., April 12, 1872. 

Dear Brother,— 

.... Our Faculty, in common with all friends of theo- 
logical education, have felt a deep interest in your pro- 
posed celebration, and, did circumstances permit, would 
rejoice to unite with you upon that occasion ; but as our 
term ends May 1st none of us can be present, which we 
greatly regret. 

James P. Boyce, Chairman of the Faculty. 



XVIII. 

Brooklyn, April 6, 1872, 

My dear Sir,— 

It will give me very great pleasure, should it be in my 
power, to be present at the Semi-Centennial Anniversary 
of Dr. Hodge's official connection with the Seminary of 
which he has so long been a distinguished ornament. I 
have not the advantage of a personal acquaintance with 
Dr. Hodge, but I have long been familiar with his writ- 
ings, and their wide and salutary influence, and have been 
greatly indebted to them as auxiliaries to my own instruc- 
tions while occupying the chair of Exegesis. But much 
as I admire his learning, and what it has achieved for the 
cause of truth, I would exchange it all were it mine, and 
I think he will agree with me in the sentiment, for what 
his " Way of Life " has done, and will continue to do, in 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



121 



directing the inquirer to the true and living way, and in 
guiding the young disciple in it. In my own family, and 
among my youthful Christian friends, I have seen much 
of its influence in deepening the experiences of the divine 
life, and in checking the tendency to shallowness of Chris- 
tian experience through superficial doctrinal teaching. 
Happy is the man wmom multitudes of humbler disciples 
will bless as their guide and helper in the path of life. 

If I should not have the satisfaction of being personally 
present, I desire through you the pleasure of congratulat- 
ing Dr. Hodge on his long and useful service in the 
church, and of joining with his friends in the hope that it 
may be long continued. 

Very respectfully, 

T. J. CONANT. 

XIX. 

Williams College, April 22, 1872. 

Dear Sir,— ■ 

.... I regret to say that it will not be compatible with 
our duties here for any of us to attend. I can only say 
that it would be a great gratification to me personally to 
join with so many others in honoring one who has so 
long stood among the very foremost of the defenders and 
expounders of revealed truth, and who has done so much 
for the promotion and honor of American scholarship. 
In full sympathy with the occasion, 

I am cordially yours, 

Mark Hopkins. 

XX. 

Amherst College, April 20; 1872. 

Dear Sir,— 

.... It was hoped that some of our number would be 
able to attend. But it now seems probable, though not 
yet quite certain, that no one of us can en'oy this pleasure. 



122 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



You will please accept the high appreciation with which 
we all regard the venerable and distinguished Professor. 
As an accomplished scholar in his line of study, as a 
champion in the defence of our common faith, as a zealous 
worker in preserving and enlarging the kingdom of 
heaven among men, he well deserves the commendation 
of all Christian hearts. A man like Dr. Hodge must be 
regarded as an honor to the whole church and to the 
human race. With shades of difference in opinion all true 
Christians are under one Head, and are impelled by one 
Spirit, and the large and powerful scholar of any denom- 
ination is the common property, and should be the com- 
mon joy of us all. 

May God spare the venerated life whose great services 
you commemorate, and crown this half century memorial 
with years of still greater usefulness than before ! 

Respectfully and truly, in the sympathies of our com- 
mon faith, 

Your friend and servant, 

W. A. Stearns. 

XXI. 

* Dartmouth College, 

Hanover, N. H., April 2, 1872. 

My dear Brother, — 

.... This will be a rare semi-Centennial — grateful 
doubtless, honorable certainly, to the venerable Professor, 
but more to the praise of that grace divine which has 
made him and his record what they are. We glorify 
God in him. . . . We can only assure you of our hearty 
interest in the occasion, and our hope and expectation 
that the blessing of God will so rest upon it, that it will 
be not only for the edification of all concerned, but for 
the honor of the Master. With great regard, 

Yours truly, 

A. D. Smith. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 1 23 



XXII. 

Ursinus College, 
Freeland, Pa., April 9, 1872. 

My dear Sir, — 

.... Permit me, however, to add that although com- 
pelled to yield to hindering circumstances, our warmest 
sympathies are with you and the richly merited token of 
regard to be presented to one whom the Lord has raised 
up to be one of the ablest expounders of evangelical 
theology, and one of the most learned and faithful de- 
fenders of Gospel truth against the artful opposition of 
modern foes — a man whose name and w 7 orks will rank 
with those of the most honored worthies of past ages. 

Begging you to convey to Dr. Hodge assurances of 
our profound esteem, 

Sincerely yours, 

J. H. A. Bomberger. 



xxiir. 

Hampden Sidney, Va., April 3, 1872. 
Rev. and dear Sir — 

.... I should be glad to do anything in my power to 
show my cordial appreciation of the great services ren- 
dered by Dr. Hodge to the Presbyterian Church, and to 
the cause of our common Redeemer. Circumstances, 
however, put it out of my power, and out of the power of 
my colleagues, to be present on the occasion. 

Yours truly, 

J. M. P. Atkinson. 



124 CORRESPONDENCE. 

XXIV. 

Westminster College, 
Fulton, Mo., April 15, 1872. 

Dear Sir — 

.... The Faculty of Westminster College very much 
regret that imperative duties oblige them to deny them- 
selves the pleasure of being present on "the very interest- 
ing occasion. They beg our venerable and beloved Pro- 
fessor to accept their warmest congratulations. May he 
long be spared to fill the important position he has so 
long and so ably occupied ! 

I beg leave to say on my own account that I do most 
deeply regret that circumstances beyond my control will 
render it impracticable for me to enjoy the pleasure I had 
anticipated of being present at the celebration of the 
fiftieth year of Dr. Hodge's Professorship. For no living 
man do I entertain so high regard. 

Very truly, 

N. L. Rice. 

xxv. 

The University of Mississippi, 
Oxford, April 3, 1872. 

My dear Brother,— 

Gladly would I unite with you in the proposed cele- 
bration, could I do so consistently with my duties in the 
chair of Metaphysics and Logic in this University. I 
should rejoice to meet old friends that were class-mates 
with me at the feet of those great lights in the church, 
Drs. Alexander, Miller, and J. A. Alexander. I should 
be delighted to extend the right hand of fellowship to 
brethren of the same name and faith, although separated 
(only temporarily I trust) by ecclesiastical lines. But of 
this pleasure^ I must be deprived by the force of circum- 
stances, which 1 cannot disregard consistently with pro- 
fessional duties. 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



125 



May the Spirit of our common Lord and Master ani- 
mate all your proceedings, is the earnest desire of your 
fellow-servant in Christian bonds. 

Very sincerely, 

James A. Lyon. 

XXVI. 

New York, April 20, 1872. 

My dear Brother, — 

.... It would be very pleasant to me to be with you 
all once more, and more particularly on an occasion of 
such deep interest, but common prudence utterly forbids 
my making the attempt. I have strength neither of body 
nor mind for the service you propose.* 

The occasion will be one of very deep interest. I re- 
joice in the honor conferred upon that faithful and labori- 
ous servant of God, who has so successfully devoted fifty 
years to directing the minds and hearts of young men to 
the fields white to the harvest. 

What a flood of light has he poured upon the path of 
the youthful ministry ! What an honor and privilege is 
it to be a minister of the glorious Gospel of the blessed 
God ! Oh, that the young who are called to this sacred 
service may deeply feel the responsibility of their voca- 
tion ! My prayer for them is, that they may be more and 
yet more imbued with the thought that their mission is 
" to turn men from darkness to light, and from the power 
of Satan unto God ; that they may receive forgiveness of 
sins, and an inheritance among them which are sanctified 
by faith that is in Christ Jesus." 

This, after all, is the great work of the ministry of 
reconciliation. Once more thanking you for your frater- 
nal greetings. Affectionately your brother, 
'WB~ Gardiner Spring. 



* Dr. Spring, as a Director of the Seminary in 1822 when Dr. Hodge 
entered on his professorship, had been invited to take part in the 
exercises. 



126 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



XXVII. 

(Letter from Alumni of Princeton, resident in 
Minnesota.) 

Dear Sir, — 

The undersigned, ministers of the Presbyterian Church, 
now living in Minnesota, who have attended the Theolog- 
ical Seminary at Princeton, N. J., and who cannot (as we 
wish we could) be present in the body at the Semi-Cen- 
tennial celebration in honor of our beloved old Professor, 
Charles Hodge, D.D., LL.D., April 24th, 1872, to com- 
memorate the completion of the fiftieth year of his connec- 
tion with this institution as a teacher, would, nevertheless, 
send our ministerial and friendly greeting. 

We thank God for ourselves, that we have had the rare 
honor and privilege to sit as pupils at the feet of this great 
teacher, the greatest in his department, as we truly believe, 
to be found to-day in this or any other land. And we thank 
God, for the church, that at the eventful period of her his- 
tory included in these fifty years, the chair of Theology 
jn her oldest (and perhaps most influential) Theological 
Seminary, has been filled by a teacher so wise, so learned, 
so pure-minded, so catholic in his views, so bold in main- 
taining the truth, so conservative and yet so progressive 
withal, and above and through all so devoutly consecra- 
ted in all his great gifts to the service of our Lord and 
Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

We almost hesitate to speak as we feel, our feelings are 
so strong and so warm. And when we think of the thou- 
sands of young men during these fifty years, on whom in 
the Seminary, Professor Charles Hodge laid his strong 
and skilful hand to mould them to work for the Master ; 
when we think of what they have done for Christ, the 
church and the world, because of what he did for them ; 
when we think of his general and diffused influence in the 
church at large through his commentaries and other writ- 
ings, shaping her opinions on many doctrines and subjects ; 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



127 



and when we think of the honor to have had for so many 
years such a man as the representative teacher of the faith of 
the church, in both her common and her peculiar doctrines, 
we can only from our deepest hearts say, Thank God, thank 
God for Charles Hodge ! 

To this venerable man on this auspicious day, we indi- 
vidual^ send our warmest love. And we pray our Father 
in heaven to spare him to us all so long as it shall be best 
for him and most for the glory of the common Master. 

Frederick T. Brown, St. Paul. 
Daniel B. Jackson, Litchfield. 
James L. Merritt, St. Charles. 
James A. McGowan, Taylors Falls. 
W. J. Hoar, Willmar. 
W. C. Harding, 
Geo. Ainslie, Rochester. 
Thomas Burnet, Oronoco. 
Hugh L. Craven, St. Charles. 



XXVIII. 

Chiengmai, North Laos, Farther India, 
February 29, 1872. 

Dear Sir,— 

Nothing would afford me greater pleasure than to be 
present on that deeply interesting occasion. It is our 
constant prayer that Dr. Hodge may long be spared to 

the Seminary Our thoughts will also turn on 

that day to one who was so long the associate of Dr. 
Hodge, and who would have rejoiced more than any 
other had his life been spared to meet with you on the 
day of the semi-Centennial. The name of Dr. Addison 
Alexander would itself have made a less noted Seminary 
than Princeton illustrious. No institution has been more 
signally favored in that galaxy of illustrious men who 
have left their impress upon it, and through it on the 



128 



CORRESPONDENCE. 



Church and the world. Please find enclosed my contn-; 
bution to the Hodge Professorship ; I would rejoice if it.i 
were as manv thousands as it is dollars. 

Daniel McGilvary. 



W 112 82 

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